New Member
by i.was.kitten
Summary: The Ducks find out the Saurians have returned, but when they find themselves at their mercy, a strange girl comes to their aid and claims to have joined the Resistance in Puck World and knows their former leader Canard who saved her life. Christian based. No flames. Own nothing.
1. A Sudden Visitor

**Prologue**

My name is Twlya. Short for Twilight because of my red hair. I'm 20 years old, but I look a lot younger and I'm short. I have bluish green eyes and freckled skin. Just a regular looking human on the outside with probably no secrets.

Yeah, one would think that. Anyone on Earth would think that and wouldn't think much of my background because it's not that different from anyone else's... But what if a human like me were to be somewhere that would be interested...if I didn't look like them...because they're a whole new different type of people?

I know, it's ridiculous to think of aliens in other worlds in space, but just they say just because you haven't seen something yet, doesn't mean it's not there. I, myself, wasn't sure about people from different worlds, either, until I came to one myself.

Yes, I said it. You read it. How? Well, when I first woke up...I had no idea at all. Why don't I just tell you the story and then you'll understand.

* * *

On a ruined planet named Puck World that was once ice-cold, was now uncomfortably and miserably warm, mostly for the inhabitants who were humanoid Ducks and once in charge of their home world until the alien invasion of evil reptiles called the Saurians who took over their planet and now everyone was living under dictatorship and were forced into slave camps.

However, there were those who didn't give up hope. There was a military party called the Resistance, who refused to lose their home to the evil overlord Dragunus and set out far and wide to find the best people with the best skill to stop him.

Meanwhile, one commando, a tanned-feathered mallard named Canard Thunderbeak and his own little team, stayed close to the Resistance headquarters and helped as well as they could to make things hard for the evil lizards and easier for the Duck people.

One day, Canard discovered a dungeon cell and decided to find whoever was trapped and break them out. He hoped they were not many since he was going in there by himself, much to the resentment of his good and loyal teammates.

He was able to sneak in undetected and quietly searched every cell and found almost all of them empty. From bottom to top, he kept finding empty cells and he felt grateful for it and finally, when he reached the top floor, he saw the only cell and looked through the bars to see a young girl who was lying on her side, her back turned to him so he couldn't see her face.

What he could see was her long red hair and that her legs were tied up along with her hands that were roped bound behind her back.

_She's the only one here, so there's not going to be much difficulty._

He used the key that was hung next to the door and unlocked the cell door and walked up to her. He wondered why she didn't move at the sound of the door opening and he figured that she was unconscious.

_What have they done to her?_

He untied her feet and as he touched her, the girl started to stir and moaned in pain. "Hang on, I'm gonna get you out of here," he promised as he finished releasing her feet and went to her hands. After her hands were free, he noticed something very surprising about them. Ducks usually had eight fingers, but this girl had ten and on the tip of them were...nails? He took a closer look at her hands and saw that she had no feathers on her skin.

This was getting very weird for him and turned the girl to lie on her back and his eyes went wide and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The girl's face was beak-less and he could see a nose in the middle of her face and her cheeks were soft. Looking at her feather-less skin, it was pinkish and covered in tiny brown spots.

_What in Puck World have_ _they done to her? Did they use her as an experiment or something? _

He took a closer look at her face and saw with shock that her whole cheek was bruised. Whatever they did to her, they hurt her badly. He had to get her out. He put a hand under knees and slid his arm on her shoulder, which made her wince in pain.

"I'm sorry, are you hurt there, too?" Canard asked her worriedly. She was really in some pain and carefully picked her up bridal style. She moaned again, but this time she had her eyes open.

"Wh-what are you?" she murmured.

"What am I?" he queried, raising a confused raised eyebrow. "You should know. I'm a Duck."

She was quiet for a moment, looking very confused herself and said, "But Ducks aren't big...and don't talk."

"Huh?" What was she talking about? "Are you saying you've never seen a Duck like me before?"

She nodded slowly.

"...Does that mean you're not a Duck?" he asked curiously.

"No..." she mumbled, looking she was going to pass out again.

"But..." This was all very strange to him. This girl was in a Saurian dungeon and she's...not a Duck? "Who are you? And what are you?"

"T-T-Twyla," she answered, feeling weaker. "I'm a h... A h..." Next thing, her head hung and she went limp in his arms. He was startled and was afraid he'd lost her. He put his head to her...mouth and listened and sighed with relief to hear she was breathing.

_She's alive, but she's very hurt. I may not know what she is, but she needs help and she doesn't deserve to be here._

Canard took Twyla and walked out of the cell and headed for downstairs, making sure not to run into any of the Drones that served Dragunus. He stopped at a two-way hallway and hid behind a wall to look for any enemies and saw that the coast was clear.

Then Twyla moaned again which startled Canard. "Shh," he hushed, bringing her head to rest on his shoulder and whispered in her ear reassuringly, "You'll make it, don't worry."

Twyla had her eyes closed, but he knew she heard him and felt her relax. He was glad she was trusting him since she'd never seen a Duck like him before.

Finally, he made it out of the dungeons and walked outside, but suddenly, he heard an alarm and he knew they found out their only prisoner was gone and would immediately search for her. He ran as fast as he could, not looking back to see if he was being followed.

At the secret hideout of the Resistance H.Q., two Ducks were waiting by the door outside. A gray-feathered female duck with long black hair named Suzette Hardwing and a male Duck in his late 40's with light yellow feathers and grayish-brown hair in a lab coat, hinting he was a scientist named Dr. Beakin.

They saw their comrade Canard coming up to them with a person in his arms, her head on his shoulder, showing only the back of her head. He smiled when he saw them and panted hard when he came up to them.

"Canard, what happened?" Suzette asked. "And who is this girl?"

"Her name is Twyla," he explained, trying to catch his breath. "I was looking in a dungeon to find any prisoners. She was the only one."

"Only one girl?" Dr. Beakin repeated curiously. "Why just her?"

"Well, I think they did something really awful to her," Canard replied, looking at the wounded female. "Her face is bruised and I think she has injuries on her arm, too. She was unconscious like this when I found her, but when I touched her, she woke up and told me her name..."

He trailed off, not knowing how to explain the next part.

"What is it, Canard?" Suzette asked, wondering why he was silent.

"Well, when I saw her face, I noticed something...different," he answered hesitantly.

"Different how?" Dr. Beakin questioned.

"Look at her face."

The doctor came up and gently turned the girl's head to point at their astonished faces to see she didn't look anything like them.

"Wh-where's her beak? And her feathers?" Suzette asked, not believing what she was saying.

"I don't think she's ever had either," Canard said. "When she saw me, she looked like she'd never seen a Duck before and when I asked her if she was...she said no."

"This girl is a different species?" Dr. Beakin asked. "Just what is she?"

"She was about to tell me, but then she passed out again."

"This doesn't make any sense," Suzette said, "What could the Saurians want with her? And where did they find her?"

"And how is it she is hurt so badly?" Dr. Beakin added, gently touching the big bruise on the girl's face.

"I don't know, but all I knew was she needed help right away," Canard answered, "And I think she knows I'm a good person since I wanted to free her. I suggest we get her inside and see what we can do."

Canard walked in with Suzette and Dr. Beakin walking on each side of him, not taking their eyes off of the strange newcomer who laid unconscious and protectively in the arms of her rescuer.

* * *

Dr. Beakin, not only a Duck of science, but of medicine, too, and mended Twyla's face and shoulder that looked like it'd been hit very, very hard. Then he figured out what'd made her unconscious. Apparently, whatever the Saurians did, it hurt her head very badly.

"She should wake up in a while, but when I can't say," Dr. Beakin explained once they put her in a room high in a tower away from everyone below. Canard had suggested no one should know about her yet until they know more about her. "Although, I do think she'll live."

Canard looked at Twyla, lying unconscious in a bed, and wished she'd wake up right now. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her. What was she? Where was she from? Why was she in the Saurian dungeons? Why did they hurt her so?

"You're worried, but you're very curious about her, aren't you?" Suzette asked Canard, putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"How can I not? Aren't you?"

"Well, yes, of course," she nodded. "How can we not? We've never seen anything like her before."

"And we, too, have questions we'd like to ask her," Dr. Beakin agreed. "But for now, we must let her wake up on her own. Let us just be glad you were able to save her, my boy."

Canard nodded with a grin, but he still wished she'd wake up. Suzette and Dr. Beakin headed out the door with Canard still standing in place.

"Canard, you coming?" Suzette called.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll come in a minute," Canard called back.

She nodded and walked out with Dr. Beakin who put a hand on her shoulder. "He sure is worried, not that I blame him," Suzette told the doctor.

"Well, of course he is, my girl," Dr. Beakin nodded, "He was the one who saved her life, so he feels responsible for her. She is very fortunate that he was there to get her out before those awful lizards could do anything else."

Suzette nodded in agreement, holding the good doctor's hand. "Whoever and whatever she is, she's an innocent victim...hurt by the same ones who hurt us."

Dr. Beakin smiled reassuringly and led Suzette away from the door.

Canard looked over the girl who'd obviously been through so much. As curious as he was about her, he wanted nothing more than to see her wake up and feel better.

_I wonder if she's still afraid since she's still in an unknown area._

He leaned close to her and stroked her hair, whispering gently, "Twyla, I don't know if you can hear me, but you're safe now. My good friends Suzette and Dr. Beakin tended to you and the doctor said you should be fine. You just need to wake up on your own. I don't know what the Saurians did to you, but they can't do it to you again. I have to say, we're all very curious about you and I'm sure you are of us as well. But I just want you to know, you don't have to worry much. the Saurians can't find you and even though you don't know us yet, we're your friends and we want to help you. Right now, all we want is for you to wake up soon."

The more he stroked her hair, the more it calmed Twyla and it made her grin a little and he smiled that she knew she was in safe hands. Little did he know of the adventures she was going to have in the near future...

* * *

In a throne room, a tall, ugly red lizard in purple robes called Dragunus was destroying Drones, furious when he heard of a breakout in one of the dungeons.

"How could you lose the girl?" he roared to three of his henchmen, a big orange clubbed-tailed Saurian named Siege, an old gray Saurian with a staff named Wraith, and a green crazy-eyed Saurian named Chameleon. "How do you lose only one prisoner?"

"It's very easy to lose only one prisoner," Wraith answered, frightened by his master's rage. "If there were many, they could've easily been noticed."

"But that wasn't just any prisoner, Wraith!" Dragunus snapped, destroying another Drone. "She was a girl from another world. Having her here was a useful thing and the reason I left her alive was because she could've been useful again later."

"What do we still need that shrimp for?" Siege asked. "We've learned enough of where she's from, haven't we?"

"Yes, but we could've learned more," Dragunus replied with clenched fists.

"Well, hey, you never know, we might find her again," Chameleon thought, trying to be positive.

"Just who do you suppose took the girl?" Dragunus demanded, making the three shake in fear. "It was that pest Canard. If he took her, then that means she's in a Resistance hideout and that means we will _never _find her!"

"My lord, is one girl really worth searching for?" Wraith reasoned, "We know where she is from and we know how to get there. What else do we need?"

Dragunus took deep breaths and tried his hardest to calm down. "Perhaps we don't need anything else," he replied. "We do have enough information, I suppose. But if we ever see her again, I want her brought to me alive, do you all understand?"

His lackies nodded and left him alone, not wanting to see him get angry again. The Saurian overlord sat down on his throne and thought about his former prisoner's origins again. "...Earth...I shall like to see it one of these days. I would like to have another world to conquer," he chuckled evilly.

* * *

**Chapter 1: A Sudden Visitor**

Another day on the strange world called Earth in a town named Anaheim. One year ago had passed since the good aliens called the Mighty Ducks came from Puck World when their enemies the Saurians escaped here.

They became a popular hockey team in their spare time and also crime fighters. When they weren't foiling the Saurians' schemes to take over Earth like they did to Puck World, they would stop other evil-doers and save lives.

They were thankful that most humans had been understanding of strange beings like them, but some other humans still had mixed feelings of the newcomers, but they learned to ignore those who wouldn't understand.

One day, the leader Wildwing Flashblade stepped out of the hockey rink known as the Pond which above their base that was underground and had been their home for quite a long time. The leader in white feathers looked up at the sky in sadness because in all this time, they'd been unable to capture the Saurians and return home to Puck World.

Plus, it'd been another year of when his best Canard Thunderbeak sacrificed himself to protect the others, giving Wildwing the Mask that'd been used by another great hero named Drake DuCane centuries and centuries ago to defeat the Saurians who took over worlds before they were banished by Drake in a dimensional limbo.

From what Wildwing could remember when he fought Dragunus, he said that Canard was still trapped in the dimensional limbo that they traveled through to follow the Saurians. If it was true, then if he and his team could get their hands on the Dimensional Portal, they could use it to find Canard and then return to Puck World at last.

But how could they find the Saurians? They hadn't heard from them since Wildwing stopped a whole army of Drones from coming to Earth and had the Saurian airship the Raptor under water. Who knows if their portal even worked anymore...?

"We can't give up, we can't," Wildwing told himself. "We have to try...no matter what it takes."

He just hoped Canard was okay... He'd missed his best friend and Puck World. He hoped after defeating the Saurians, everything could go back to the way they were...

His little brother Nosedive stepped out to see his big brother leaning against the wall of the building looking up at the blue sky. Although he couldn't see his expression because of the Mask, he could tell he was sad. It had been a year since they had been here and he had a feeling he was missing Canard.

He wanted to find some way to cheer him up, but he didn't know how. To be honest, he wished his big brother hadn't took down the Raptor like that because that was where the Dimensional Portal was and the rest of the team don't know if the Saurians will ever show up again.

"Come to keep me company, baby bro?" asked Wildwing who saw Dive at the door.

"Well, if you don't mind," he replied hesitantly.

Wildwing grinned, knowing that his little brother was checking on him since he knew what today meant. "Nah, not at all."

Dive walked up next to him, leaning on the wall, not knowing what to say at first. Wing was looking back at the sky again, so he did the same. "Nice day, huh?" he asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah..." he replied quietly.

"Nothing but open blue sky," Nosedive added, but received no comment. He sighed quietly, running his fingers through his hair.

"I know what you're trying to do, Dive," Wildwing told him suddenly, "and I appreciate it. Although, it's kinda hard to cheer up when you're in a different world for a whole year."

The younger Flashblade couldn't help nodding in agreement. They'd all missed Puck World and wanted to go home... At least Wing and Dive have each other. The others didn't have any family memebers with them and even though they didn't say anything, the brothers knew that their teammates were missing their loved ones terribly...

The only things that distract them from thinking about it is practicing hockey and fighting crime. They just wished they could find a clue if the Dimensional Portal was okay and what its destination was exactly.

Suddenly, they both heard a beeping sound from their wrist communicators. "A Drake 1 alert," Wildwing proclaimed.

Well, at least they had something to do today. They didn't say anything to each other, but they hoped that maybe this emergency meant the Saurians were back. Not that they wanted to see them again, but it would've meant that their portal was okay and that they had a chance to get it and go home.

Just as they went inside, a red-haired girl with freckled skin was coming up to the hockey rink and she saw the two Ducks going inside.

"There they are," she said. She felt nervous at first going up to them, but she'd waited a very long time and she wanted to meet the team she'd heard so much about. She took a deep breath and walked up to the building and went inside.

"Hello?" she called as she stepped inside. "Anyone here?" She saw the ice rink itself and shivered at the cold which she never liked. Thankfully, she had on her blue jacket, but she was more concerned about finding the Ducks. "I don't understand. This is supposed to be where they live."

Just then, she heard rumbling sounds and saw that the ice that was opening a giant hole. Her eyes were wide with amazement when she saw a white duck-shaped hockey mask aircraft coming out of the ice and through the opened ceiling, taking to the skies.

"Of course," she told herself staring at the sky as the ceiling started to close. "They resign underground. Okay, I know where they live, but now they're on a mission, I think. Should I just stay here...? But what if they need help?"

Making up her mind, she decided not to wait and headed out the door to find the thing she needed to follow them. "I'm not going to wait any longer," she declared as she ran through outside passed the town and into the woods. "I know Canard would've wanted me to wait at the Pond, but I've been worried about him ever since he left with the team and I'm going to find him, help stop the Saurians forever, get the Dimensional Portal back, and get them all home to Puck World where they belonged."

After getting passed a few bushes, she found the giant red robotic suit that she used to help her get into this world and opened its chest to reveal a seat and the controls to make it work. Once she was inside, she closed the chest and turned her cyborg ride on and had it flying in the air above the trees.

She activated a holographic screen that showed her a trail that came from the Pond and led to someplace up west. "Just follow their jet and you should be able to find them," she instructed herself, controlling the robot to fly up in the sky to avoid being seen by the people below and followed the Ducks' lead.

"It'll be good to see you again, Canard. It'll be very good to see you again."

* * *

(Hey, guys. I thought I'd do a story of the second series since Disney cancelled the show which I think was unfair. I hope you'll like this and I'll do my best to update new chapters as quickly as possible. Until then, God bless.)


	2. A Rescuer in a Drone?

**Chapter 2: A Rescuer...In a Drone?**

The Ducks flew west in the Aerowing, looking to see the mysterious trouble that was going on over there.

"Drake 1 said it's in an abandoned mine," Tanya explained.

"What could be going on in there?" Mallory asked. "And who would be in there?"

"Yeah, who knows how long it's been since it was abandoned and how well in-tact that place is," Duke agreed.

"Well, if it's drawing Drake 1's attention, then we need to check it out," Wildwing told his team. They were all silently hoping it would be the Saurians and if it was, they'd be able to capture them this time and take the Dimensional Portal for good.

They came insight of the old mine and landed the Aerowing outside and came out to see the eerie, old black hole that was too dark to see what was inside.

"So, who wants to go in first?" Nosedive asked sarcastically.

They stepped inside with Wildwing taking the lead, using the Mask to see in the dark. "So far, this path goes on for a bit," he informed, "Let's be ready for whatever's in here."

After walking two minutes that seemed like twenty minutes of walking through nothing but thick darkness, they finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel and saw a large open room with a very wide hole above them, revealing the blue sky.

They looked around, wondering whoever was causing trouble were hiding.

"Hey, Tanya, I think you need to give Drake 1 a tune-up, girly girl," Dive said, "There's nothing going on here."

"Just because we can't see anyone else in here, doesn't mean they're not her," Grin told the young Duck.

"Well, I'm looking all over this room and I see no one at all," Wildwing announced, using the Mask to reveal anyone hiding.

"Maybe they're in the other tunnels," Mallory suggested, pointing to the other three entrances on the other side.

"All right, we split up into three groups," Wildwing instructed, "Mallory and Duke, you take the tunnel on the left. Grin and Tanya, you take the one in the middle. Dive, you and I take the one on the right. If any of us see anything, we call each other and we'll regroup."

Everyone nodded and went their separate ways for the moment. Mal and Duke kept walking through the left tunnel which was hard to tell where they were going in the dark like this.

"Talk about finding your way without a candle," Mallory muttered. "We should've brought flashlights."

"I think I may have the solution, sweetheart," Duke declared, taking out his saber and making it flash the blade in and out of the hilt, making a light. "I just keep doin' this and we should be able to see just fine."

As they kept walking, Duke flashing his saber, they walked past a wall that had dirt that looked like it'd been moved, but they didn't notice and went on. The wall had green eyes that opened and what came out of the wall was a Saurian Drone. The two heard the noise and saw in shock to see the robot, but before they could attack, the Drone shot a net at them.

They struggled and Duke tried to cut the rope with his saber, but to no avail. "Oh, crud," he cursed, "This thing is uncutable. I hate it when the enemy fights smart."

"Yeah, which is unusual on their part," Mallory agreed dryly. The Drone grabbed the net and pulled its captives away back the way they'd come.

In the middle tunnel, Grin and Tanya were walking through it with a little light courtesy of Tanya's Omni-tool. "Perhaps we should all have one of those," Grin commented, pointing on her gauntlet.

"I thought you weren't into material things," she remarked with a smirk.

"I'm not, but it's always helpful to have something to light the way in the darkness."

Tanya smiled at that and led the way in the tunnel. "I still think Drake 1 was warning us of an alert," she told him.

"I as well," he agreed. "Like I have said, just because we haven't seen anyone yet, doesn't mean they're not here."

Suddenly, Grin heard a noise from the wall and pushed Tanya out of the way. They turned to see a Drone coming out of the wall and shot a net at them. They struggled in the net Tanya trying to the rope with her Omni-tool, but was horrified to discover it couldn't be cut. Grin tried to break the net, but the rope was too strong.

As the Drone dragged them away, Tanya said, "You know, Grin, sometimes, I don't like it when we're right."

In the right tunnel, Wildwing led the way using his Mask to see. "I hope the others are having luck going through the tunnels in the dark," he told his little brother.

"I just hope I was right about Drake 1 being broken," Dive remarked, feeling uneasy going through the tunnel. "I mean, it's not that I'm afraid of the dark. I just don't like how long it's taking for us to find whoever's causin' trouble."

"Me neither," Wing agreed. "I mean, why are they in any of these tunnels and...?" Wildwing stopped and his eyes widen in horror. "Wait, that's it. That's exactly what they want us to do."

"To do what?" Nosedive asked, not liking his brother's sudden stop.

"To make us go separate so they can pick us off."

Nosedive thought about it and he knew his big brother had a very good point. "Then that means this is an ambush."

"The guys. Come on, we gotta find them." But just as they turned around to go back, a Drone popped out of the wall and shot a net at the Flashblade brothers who struggled hard to get free, but to no use. The Drone took the two back to the large room for them to see their friends trapped in nets as well.

Once everyone was settled in the middle of the room, they saw three shadows on the floor and looked up to see the lizards they almost thought they'd never see again: Siege, Wraith, and Chameleon.

"What's up, Ducks?" Chameleon asked them.

"Did you miss us?" Siege added, more than happy to see the Ducks trapped in nets.

"Because we missed having someone to play with and destroy," Wraith finished, teleporting down on the ground floor in front of them.

"Funny, the feeling is mutual," Wildwing said bitterly.

"We were starting to think you were all gone for good," Duke put in.

"Yeah, well, it took us a while to get the Raptor out of the sea," Siege told them, "but we managed to fish it out."

"And as soon as we made for dry land, Dragunus wanted nothing more than to get rid of you winged vermin," Wraith explained, "so he came up with a way to get your attention and give you a little surprise party."

"Surprise!" Chameleon cheered.

"And our only party favors are those nets and your..." Siege stopped and pretended to think. "What was it again, Wraith?"

"Your one-way trip to oblivion," Wraith answered. The Saurians moved out of the way and the Drones prepared to open fire.

"Any last words, Ducks?" Siege asked them. The Ducks were silent, not believing that after a whole year of being on Earth, they were all going to die here, trapped in nets and blown to smithereens in an abandoned mine. "Nothin'? Good, then let's get on with the show."

The Ducks looked away, bracing themselves for the end. Just then, a shadow above the mine through the hole caught the Saurians' attention.

"What is that?" Siege asked, trying to make out what the shape was in the sunlight.

"It's a bird, it's a plane..." Chameleon said stupidly, then narrowed his eyes and felt even more dumb-founded than usual. "Another Drone?"

The Ducks looked up to see this Drone landing on the ground between the team and the Saurians.

"Who sent the fourth Drone?" Siege wondered.

"I suppose Dragunus wanted to make sure we have enough Drones to handle these feathered pests," Wraith guessed.

"But only one?" Chameleon queried. He took a closer look and saw that the thing looked scratched and dirty. "Ugh, and could use a make-over."

"What could've happened to this Drone?" Wraith asked curiously.

"Eh, it doesn't matter," Siege shrugged. "The more the merrier as long as we see these birds get blasted to dust feathers."

Suddenly, the 4th Drone lifted an arm and shot at the three Drones into pieces. "What the...?!" Siege bellowed. He turned to the 4th Drone and demanded, "What do you think you're doin'?"

The Drone turned on the alien lizards, pointing a loaded arm at them. To everyone's shock, a female voice came from the robot. "Giving you creeps what you deserve!" She started shooting at the Saurians who dodged her attacks.

"Wait a minute, this Drone can talk?" Duke asked.

"And it's a girl Drone?" Dive added.

"Hey, is that Drone having a malfunction?" Chameleon asked, hiding behind a large rock with Wraith and Siege, "'Cause we never had a Drone that could speak... Or a female Drone at that."

"I suggest you Saurians surrender!" the girl Drone demanded. "Unless you want me to come over there."

"I vote we give up," Chameleon said, making Siege hit him on the head. "Ow!"

"We haven't surrendered before and we ain't gonna surrender now!" Siege yelled. "Especially to a rogue robot. Eat this, traitorous Drone!"

Siege started shooting and the Drone quickly moved the Ducks to safety. Once they were out of range, the Drone told them, "You'll be safe here. I'll free ya as soon as I'm done with them."

When she left to fight the three lizards, they all stared at her in amazement.

"A Saurian Drone...wants to help us?" Mallory asked in disbelief.

"Now I've seen everything," Duke remarked.

Wildwing couldn't understand this and did a scanning on her with his Mask. His eyes widened and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "No, the Drone's not rogue... There's a person inside that thing."

"Wait, someone is inside a Drone and controlling it?" Dive asked.

"But how? And how could she get a Drone in the first place?" Tanya asked.

"Right now, let's just be thankful she has a Drone and using it to our aid," Grin told them as they watched her dodge all of the Saurians' shooting.

Then, the Siege and the Chameleon's blasters ran out of ammo, but Wraith was still shooting fireballs with his magic. The mysterious Drone-controller evaded his fire attacks and shot lasers at the lizards and made a hit at dark magical reptile who was stunned.

"Oh, no, old lizard down! Old lizard down!" Chameleon cried.

"Whoa, she took down Wraith," Duke said in awe.

"And she was waiting for them to waste their ammo so she could get an open," Mallory added, impressed with this mysterious fighter.

The Drone-controller walked up to the three and pointed a warning arm at them. "You gonna come quietly? Or do I begin to play rough?"

"Begin?" Nosedive echoed.

Siege tilted his head in confusion. "That voice," he murmured, but she couldn't hear him.

"Well?" the Drone-controller asked.

"Hey, we love to stay and play, but we'll have to do it another day," Siege said, pulling out something from his pocket. He threw it above the Drone-controllers head and when the little thing fell in the middle of the floor, Siege grabbed Wraith and he and the Chameleon teleported themselves away.

"What?" the Drone-controller asked. She turned to the little rectangular device on the ground and saw in terror a timer on it. "It's an explosive!" she screamed. She ran to the Ducks and pulled them all up through the hole in the ceiling. "Hang on!" she yelled.

The timer reached to zero and turned into a firestorm that blasted the mine and brought it crumbling to the ground. The fire was reaching for the Ducks, but the Drone-controller flew up as fast and high up as she could and they all made it out safely to the entrance of the mind and landed next to the Aerowing.

She gently put the Ducks down and took the nets off of them. "Are you all okay?" she asked in concern.

"We're fine," Wildwing told her. "Thanks to you."

"I was happy to help, my friends," she replied, putting an robotic arm on the Drone's chest.

"If you're our friend, do we know you?" Mallory questioned.

"No," she answered sadly, "but I do know a lot about you guys. And about those Saurians."

"So you're a big fan of ours or something?" Nosedive asked.

"Or something," she replied. "You're not going to believe this...but... What would you say if I told you I'm in the Resistance on Puck World?"

Their eyes were as wide as goose eggs. "You're from Puck World?" Tanya asked a little loudly.

"Well, yeah, just recently," she answered, sounding rather hesitant.

"But... How did...?" Wildwing stammered, wondering what questions to ask her, "How did you get here? How did you get that Drone? When did you join the Resistance?"

"Okay, okay, just settle down, Wildwing," she told him.

"She knows your name," Dive told his big brother, shocked to hear her say Wildwing.

"I'm...aware, little bro, I'm aware," Wing responded, not keeping his eyes off the stranger who was still hiding in the Drone.

"Now to answer the second question: Our friends in the Resistance and I stole this Drone after a little robot fight," she explained, "To answer the third question: I've been helping the Resistance for...over half a year. And to answer the first question: After I learned how to control the Drone to sneak into the robot army to get into this world that Dragunus had escaped to a year ago, I snuck away from the army after the Dimensional Portal opened by the sea."

"Wait a minute, you were there when the Drones were coming from Puck World to here?" Wildwing interrupted.

"Yes, of course getting way wasn't easy when someone was trying to blast the Drones of out the sky along with me," she answered, hinting how she nearly got killed. "But I'm not blaming you guys. You were just doing what you had to in order to stop Dragunus from destroying this world. Anyway, after I avoided the wildfire, and landed in a spot away from you. I would've came up to you, but to approach you all in a Drone..."

"Yeah, coming to us in a Drone suit wouldn't have been the best thing to do," Mallory agreed.

"Right, and after landing, I waited until you guys left so I could follow without being noticed...then... Well, my Drone was running out of fuel so I had no choice but to land in a spot in the woods. The next few days I spent finding stuff to fill up the fuel tank and when I finally had this thing operational again, I followed in the direction you all took and found Anaheim.

"I brought the Drone down to a different forest so I wouldn't get unnecessary attention and asked people in town if they'd seen anything unusual and they all told me of a group of alien Ducks living in a hockey rink called the Pond. Just when I found it and saw...you two," she said, pointing at the Flashblades, "going inside. I came inside myself and I wondered where you all were. When I saw that your jet had came out of the rink, I'd realized you all were livin' underground of the stadium. I would've waited for you guys, but I wanted to help out...so..."

"You followed us?" Duke answered for her.

"Yeah..." she confessed. "I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay. So I came straight back to my Drone and followed your jet's trail thanks to the holographic locators and saw that you guys were in quite a bind and, well, you all know the rest."

"Whoa..." Dive commented.

"You came all the way from Puck World and...spent days by yourself in the woods..." Wildwing said, feeling sorry she had to suffer like this, being in a different world all alone.

"Hey, it was okay. I know how to make do," she reassured. "Believe me. I'm just glad I was able to help you all."

"And you did," Duke told her.

"And we owe you our lives," Grin added, bowing to her.

"And we're all very glad to meet someone from Puck World," Tanya said.

"There are so many questions we want to ask about home," Mallory agreed.

"And I'm sure you'll have more questions to ask than the ones you're thinking right now," she stated gently.

"What do you mean by that?" Wildwing asked curiously.

"Well...you see...I know Canard Thunderbeak," she answered directly.

"Canard? Really?" Wildwing asked in disbelief that she knew his best friend.

"Yes...he was the one who saved my life on Puck World when I was the only prisoner in a dungeon...shortly after everything was taken over by Dragunus."

"Hang on, wait, the only prisoner in a dungeon?" Mallory questioned. "Canard never told us about that."

"That's because he couldn't tell you all...because... Well, why don't I just show you?" The Drone chest opened and when the smoke cleared, they all stared in total shock to see that their rescuer who saved them was not a Duck...but a red-haired freckled-skinned...human girl.

* * *

(I hope this is satisfactory. I'm doin' the best I can. Hope you'll stay with me and like this. God bless.)


	3. Story Time

**Chapter 3: Story Time**

The girl looked at the Ducks who were all staring mouth-well, beak agaped at her and she knew that they were thinking their day was getting more and more unusual by the minute. She grinned nervously and waved at them. "Hi," she greeted shyly.

The gray-feathered Duck with a slight white streak in his gray hair, wearing a red suit and with an eye patch whom she knew was Duke waved back at her, still looking as dumb-founded as the rest of them. "Hello."

She climbed out of the Drone and set foot on the grass, for them all to see her hair was in a ponytail that reached her lower back and that she was wearing a blue jacket and blue jeans. She was looking up at the Ducks who were still speechless and surprised. "What? Were you expecting someone taller or someone with a beak, feathers, and eight fingers?" she asked sarcastically, wiggling her ten human fingers.

"That would be the second one," the white Duck covered in white commando armor and wearing a golden mask whom she knew was Wildwing replied.

"Actually, I was expecting both," the young male Duck with shoulder-length blond hair wearing armor like Wildwing, only not so much of it, Duck admitted, getting a nudge from the white drake and she had a feeling he was Wildwing's little brother Nosedive.

"You're a...you're a..." the female Duck with red hair that reached the top of her neck in a purple battle suit named Mallory stammered, trying to find the "h" word.

"A human?" she finished for her. "Yeah, I know."

"But how can a human be part of the Resistance?" a large and muscular Duck named Grin with a short black ponytail in a white shirt and red baggy-looking pants asked curiously.

"In the Resistance?" a female Duck in a different purple suit with poofy blonde hair named Tanya repeated. "How can a human be from Puck World?"

"Yeah, I mean, we've never, ever seen any humans there," Duke agreed.

"Well, the thing is: I did say I recently came from Puck World," she explained hesitantly, "I just don't live there. I live...on Earth."

"Wait, wait a minute," Wildwing said, sticking his hands out, "A human from Earth came to our world a year ago when everything was being taken over by the Saurians?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"And you were a prisoner of Dragunus and ended up the only prisoner in a dungeon?" Mallory asked.

"And were rescued by Canard?" Duke finished.

"Yes..." she answered, her hands behind, her toes rubbing on the grass, making a little circle, her head looking away.

"But...but...how did you end up on our world?" Wildwing asked, "...And didn't Canard say anything about you?"

"Okay, why don't we all sit down?" she suggested, sitting on the grass and everyone doing the same, "And I'll explained everything. Well, the beginning is very complicated. You see, I really don't remember how I came to your world. The first thing I remember on your planet was that I woke up, my hands and feet tied, my face and shoulder bruised, and having the most painful headache of my life. I could barely move since I was tied up and hurt, but I knew I was prisoner, but whose prisoner? I didn't know. All I knew was that I was trapped, beaten, and terrified. I was wondering if my unknown captors were going to hurt me again or just do away with me.

"Suddenly, I heard a door opening and I thought at first it was a prison guard, coming to take me someplace where I would be killed, but to my surprise, this person untied my hands and feet, telling me to hang on, saying he was going to get me out of there. My head was hurt so much, I couldn't turn to see him. He had me in his arms, his hand touching my sore shoulder, which made me open my eyes to see my rescuer who was a tanned-feathered giant talking Duck.

"I wasn't scared of him, but I was surprised. I know it sounded dumb to ask, but I wondered if he was a human wearing a costume, or a different species of a person. When he confirmed he was in fact a Duck, he thought I should know, which meant he thought I was Duck being used as an experiment that explained my non-bird like appearance, but I told him I wasn't a Duck. Of course that made him confused and curious. The only thing I gave him was my name and then I passed out again.

"The next thing I knew, I found myself in a bed in a room somewhere. I felt a bandage on my face and saw another on my shoulder and felt another on my head. I knew that since my wounds were mended, that Duck managed to save me, but where he brought me, I didn't know until he came in to see me up and around..."

* * *

_The red-haired human looked around her new yet unfamiliar surroundings. She knew she wasn't in the cell anymore, but she wanted to know where she was and who saved her. Then she remembered that strange Duck and that he was the one who saved her life. _

_"I wonder where he is," she asked herself._

_To answer her question, the door on the opposite side of her opened to reveal her tanned-feathered hero in a blue-and-brown battle suit. "Hey, you're awake," he announced, happily. "I've been really worried about you," he told her as he came up to her, leaning his hands on the edge of the bed. She wasn't scared of him since he did get her out of that cell, though she was still amazed to see a giant bird like him._

_"You were unconscious for three days ever since I freed you from the dungeon," he explained._

_"Three days?" she echoed in disbelief._

_"Yes, it was because they did something terrible to your head," he replied, pointing at the bandage wrapped around her head. "There's no brain damage, but it was in quite a lot of pain."_

_She gently touched her bandaged head, looking at her lap in confusion. "Exactly who are 'they'? The ones who did this?" she asked._

_"The Saurians," he answered grimly. "They're evil lizard aliens who took over our world over a week ago and have been taking many prisoner as slaves to work in camps."_

_"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe it... But what'd they want your planet for?"_

_"Because their descendants of several Saurians overlords that once controlled many other worlds in the universe including ours until a hero of our planet named Drake DuCaine used made a powerful hockey goalie Mask to find their invisble hideout that was created by magic and had them all banished to a place called Dimensional Limbo. Our ancestors thought our world was free of them forever...that is until they mananged to find a way to return and seek revenge on us since Drake had defeated their ancestors." _

_The girl shook her head, not believing how much suffering this world was going through all over again._

_"But..." he continued, putting a hand on her good shoulder, "a lot of us, who refuse to let the Saurians take our world again, formed a Resistance to find a way to stop them for good."_

_"That's great," she nodded, happy and amazed that these guys were brave enough to stand up to the Saurians like that._

_"Yeah, but...we're far from stopping them just yet..." he went on sadly, "We still need more recruits to help. And while we'd sent scouts to find help, a few of us stayed behind to help out here. I went on a mission in one of the dungeons to see if there were any prisoners that needed to be freed, but so far...you were the only one there."_

_"Really?"_

_He nodded. "Mm-hmm...at first I thought you were a Duck and being used as an experiment, but when you told me you weren't and that you'd never seen a Duck like me before..."_

_"...And yet you helped me, anyway?" she asked._

_"Well, yeah, Duck or not, you were hurt and you didn't deserve to be a prisoner, especially_

_theirs." _

_The girl was amazed that he would save someone who looked different than him...and felt really grateful._

_"After I got you out undetected, I heard an alarm and ran as fast as I could back to the Resistance hideout and had a good friend of mine Dr. Beakin tend to your injuries. Your face and shoulder are bruised as you already know, and the doctor checked your head. Apparently, they did something to it that made you unconscious, but he said you could wake up on your own, though it sure took a while."_

_"Yeah, it sure did..." she replied, taking in all this wild confusion. She was on in another world of giant Ducks whose planet was taken over by evil lizards who had her prisoner..._

_"Listen, Twyla-that is your name, right? Since you told me in the dungeon."_

_"Yes, it is," she nodded. "It's short for Twilight, but you can call me Twyla."_

_"Okay, good. I know this is may be all too much for you, but I'm curious to know: What are you and where are you from?"_

_"I'm a human from a planet called Earth. You see, in my world, ducks don't talk or wear clothes. They're sort of...like wild animals. Although, some are tamed and kept as pets. The point is: They don't act or think like people such as yourselves. Not that they're not intelligent, but, you know..."_

_"I see..." he nodded. "Wow..."_

_"And I'm guessing there are no humans at all on Puck World, right?" she queried._

_"Nope, just you. Let me ask: If you're from Earth, how did you end up in the Saurians' prison?"_

_Twyla thought for a moment, to think back to what happened before she found herself in the dungeon. Then she grunted and grabbed her head that was in pain._

_"What's the matter?" Canard asked worriedly._

_She panted to bring down the pain and tried to remember, but it just brought the pain back. "I can't, I can't remember how I got here," she breathed, "I can't remember the last thing I did on my planet before I came here."_

_Canard immediately put his hands on her shoulders ordering, "Stop! Don't try to remember."_

_She relaxed her mind and took deep steady breaths. "Wh-what have those monsters done to me? And why? What could they have possibly have wanted from me?"_

_"Just keep breathing, Twyla," he told her calmly, "Just keep breathing."_

_She obeyed and took more deep breaths, trying to put herself at ease. "And what about my family and friends? I doubt they even know where I'm at. I've got to get out of here." She pulled the comforter off of her and climbed out of the bed and headed for the door._

_"Hold on," Canard called, standing in front of Twyla. "You can't leave."_

_"And why not?" she asked, giving him a challenging look. She didn't want to threaten him, she was just lost and confused and wanted answers._

_"Because no one knows about your being here except me and two others," he explained, a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't know what to tell everyone else about you, so we decided to keep you a secret."_

_"And who is we?"_

_"Suzette Hardwing and Dr. Beakin."_

* * *

"Hang on, you know Dr. Beakin?" Tanya interrupted.

"Yes, he was the doctor who tended to my wounds," Twyla answered. "I do believe he's your mentor, correct?"

"He sure is," she nodded. "I can't believe he met you..." she murmured half to herself.

"And you know Suzette?" Grin asked.

"Yes, she's your cousin, right?"

Grin nodded.

"Yes, she was there with Dr. Beakin when they saw him coming back to the secret base with me and he trusted them to keep quiet about me."

* * *

_"And what do they think of a human like me in their world?" Twyla asked Canard._

_"Well, they're curious, but they were worried since you were asleep for so long. How about I go get them so you can meet them? Would that be all right?"_

_"Well, yes," she nodded. Although she still wanted to get out, but it couldn't hurt meeting more Ducks._

_"All right, you just wait here," he told her as he opened the door, "and I'll be right back."_

_Twyla sat down on the bed and folded her arms, thinking about all this craziness._

_"How could I have ended up on this world?" she asked herself. "Did the Saurians bring me here? But why me? And how could they know about Earth?"_

_She pulled her legs on the bed and hugged her knees, trying to figure out what all of this meant. She gently touched the bruise on her face and wondered what they could've done to her..._

_Suddenly, the door opened, startling her for a second, then saw a gray-feathered, long dark-haired female Duck in a black battle suit came in with an elderly Duck wearing a lab coat and red pants with yellow feathers and short grayish-brown came in followed by Canard._

_"Twyla, meet Suzette and Dr. Beakin," Canard introduced._

_"Pleasure to see you awake at long last," Dr. Beakin smiled, shaking her hand._

_"It's a relief to know you've come to," Suzette added, shaking her hand._

_"And how are you feeling, anyhow?" Dr. Beakin asked, sitting down next to her._

_"My face and shoulder are still bruised and my head still feels sore."_

_"Well, the bruises will be fine," the doctor reassured her, patting her knee. "Your head, well, physically, it'll be fine. But mentally, I can't say. I mean, when Canard told us of your inability to recall what those awful Saurians did to you and what brought you here to our world..."_

_Twyla looked down at the floor, making the doctor stop talking. They knew she was not only confused, but sad that she'd been taken away from her home and her loved ones to be brought to another planet against her will and being tortured for what, she didn't know._

_"At least you're safe," Suzette told her gently, a hand on her shoulder, trying to be positive._

_"Yes...but there are so many questions," Twyla murmured._

_"We understand, Twyla," Canard said, coming to stand in front of her. "And if given a little bit of time, your memory might come back to you."_

_"I hope so," she replied, keeping her gaze on the floor. "Well, now that I'm awake, when will it be a good time to for me to meet the rest of your comrades?"_

_"Uh..." Suzette said confusedly._

_"Well, we, um," Dr. Beakin stammered, trying to find the right words to say._

_"Actually, Twyla, we're thinking that maybe...we should wait a while," Canard answered for them._

_"How long is a while?" Twyla asked carefully, eyeing the tanned-feathered Duck._

_"Until we stop Dragunus for good. How long will that be? Well..." he trailed off._

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're saying I should temporarily live in hiding until who knows how long when the Saurians are gone for good?" she asked, almost yelling._

_"Twyla, please, just hear us out," Canard implored. "The Saurians kidnapped you from your home and experimented on you for a reason. Chances are if they find you, they'll want to do it to you again."_

_"It's not that we wouldn't like to introduce you to our friends," Suzette added._

_"We just think it might be for the best if we keep you a secret for a bit longer," Dr. Beakin concluded, "for your sake."_

_Twyla wasn't happy by this. She was already trapped once in the Saurians' dungeon, and now she was going to be trapped again? But if the Saurians took her from Earth to do whatever hurt her so badly, they will want to do it again, like Canard said..._

_She sighed in defeat and said, "Okay, I'll stay, but only until this war is over."_

_"Then it's a deal," Canard grinned, laying a hand on her arm, "but you won't be in here alone all the time. We'll be sure to check up on you every day."_

_"Although, we should warn you that with...everything going on, we will be busy a lot," Dr. Beakin told her._

_"No doubt about that...but thank you. All of you, especially you, Canard," she said to him with a grateful smile. "I would've been dead right now if it wasn't for you."_

_"You're welcome, Twyla," he replied, smiling back. "After all, Duck or not, you are a person who needed assistance."_

_"It's nice to hear you'd help outsiders," she nodded._

_"Wouldn't you help an outsider?" Suzette asked._

_"Well, yes. I mean, different appearances or not, people like us need to look after each other and treated fairly."_

_"Very true," Dr. Beakin agreed._

_"Yes..." Twyla had a sad look on her face as she said, "However, there are still people, well, a some of my people, who are always scared of who is different than they are and judge before getting to know them. Although, there are a lot of people such as myself who'd look inside a person's mind, heart, and soul rather than their looks outside."_

_"At least that's an upside," Suzette chimed._

_"Yes," Twyla nodded._

_"Other than that, what is your planet like?" Canard asked._

_"Yes, there are so many things we'd like to know about your home world," Dr. Beakin agreed._

_"Well, Earth, most of it is a very beautiful place. You see, there are seven continents and seven seas, and..."_

* * *

"I explained to them what Earth is like, the nicest and lovliest places such as nature," Twyla told the Mighty Ducks. "The jungles, the woodlands, the grasslands, the tropical islands, and deserts. The warm places that they told me Puck World doesn't have given its...once very cold climate. For several days, Canard, Suzette, and Dr. Beakin would come and visit me and we'd eat together and share each other stories and facts about each other's planets. Then one day..."

* * *

_Twyla was working out in her room, feeling it was better to exercise than to just sit around all day other than only reading the books of Puck World from her friends, which she did like and appreciate, but she also wanted to make sure her body was in shape._

_The more she learned about Puck World and its people, she more she grew to like it, even though she hadn't seen any of it yet. She was also very concerned for the good people whose homes were taken away and how they were forced into hard labor._

_"I can't wait until the Resistance stops those evil lizards," she told herself as she kicked the air. Truth be told, another reason she was working out so much was that she wanted to be strong enough to hopefully help her new friends. She knew this wasn't her world, but those lizards done her wrong, too. Not to mention, like she once told Canard and the others, no matter how different people are on the outside, they should still help out and look out for each other._

_Unfortunately, she had yet to ask Canard about it because she was always afraid of what his reaction would be. She confided in Suzette and Dr. Beakin about it who gently advised she should just trust Canard, but she told them what she wanted him to trust her as well and let her help._

_Suddenly, the door opened and she smiled when she saw all three of her Duck friends. "Well, this is unexpected," she observed. "You don't usually come here this early, not that I'm complainin'."_

_"Actually, Twyla, we have something that we hope you might recognize," Canard explained. She tilted her head in curiosity and looked to see that he had a blue-and-black douffle bag in his hand._

_Her eyes widened when she saw it and cried, "Hey, that's my bag."_

_"I had a feeling it was," Canard replied, pulling the bag up. "You see, this morning, we were looking in a Saurian dump and we found this bag. Then I looked inside and saw some things that weren't Puck World or Saurian technology, it made me wonder if it was...Earth technology."_

_Canard gave the bag to Twyla who bent down and dug inside the thing to see her belongings from home. "Hey, this is my cell phone," she announced, pulling out a black phone and then she took out a little pink rectangular device. "And my iPod, which is a music player, F.Y.I," she explained to her friends who nodded in understanding. "And this is my dock, which serves as a speaker for the iPod," she added, pulling out a bigger pink retangular device attached to a white cord. She also pulled out her cell phone recharger, her glasses, her hairbrush, hair clip, and her Bible._

_"I can't believe that my stuff is here," she murmured in amazement, gently stroking her yellow Bible. "But why was it in the Saurian dump?"_

_"Well, some stuff they throw away are old technology that they think don't work anymore," Canard told her._

_"Of course, our motto is: Waste not, whatnot," Dr. Beakin put in with a wink that made Twyla smile._

_"So whatever they throw away, we collect and use to our advantage," Suzette concluded._

_"It is true about what they say on Earth: One person's trash is another person's treasure," Twyla quoted._

_"Or in our case, help equipment," Canard remarked._

_"Yeah...but how is it that my bag was here...?" Twyla began to ask, but stopped. "Well, I don't remember what happened to me that brought me here, so I guess my bag must've been with me from the beginning since it's here in this world. As to why this bag was packed with this stuff, maybe the last thing I did on Earth was getting ready for vacation."_

_"Maybe, but we're just glad that we know that the stuff is yours," Suzette replied._

_"And, well, if it wouldn't be too much to ask if we learned a bit about your little gadgets," Dr. Beakin asked, feeling curious to know about her off world technology._

_"Sure, I don't mind."_

* * *

"They knew my stuff wasn't nearly as advanced as your world's stuff, but they still thought my things weren't bad, but what really amazed them were the photos of the natural landscapes of my world that I had in my phone and music player. Especially the warm, hot places since your world is supposed to be ice cold. And I let them listen to a few of my songs which they loved, so they were impressed.

"Then, after a few months later, I was building up the courage to ask Canard if I could help out in the Resistance, so one day..."

* * *

_Twyla waited patiently for Canard and the others to show up for their daily visit. She rehearsed for her request to Canard and hoped he'd hear her out and say yes. _

_"I don't know how much I can help in this war, but the more help they get, the better," she murmured to herself._

_Then the door opened and she greeted her three feathered friends. "Hi, guys. How's it going?" she asked, hoping there'd be good news._

_"Well, you know my student Tanya Vardflock?" Dr. Beakin asked._

_"And my cousin Grin?" Suzette added._

_Twyla nodded._

_"They're both in the Resistance," Canard told her._

_"That's great," she replied happily. "Looks like you've got new members on your team, Canard, along with that those other great warriors Mallory McMallard and Duke L'Orange."_

_"Yes, and though it may be a small team, it's a skilled team, and that's all we need," Canard said._

_"Though, we'd still like to find a few more skilled members to join us," Dr. Beakin admitted._

_"Hey...maybe you can find a new member today..." she announced, shyly._

_"What makes you say that, Twyla?" Canard asked tilting his head. Suzette and Dr. Beakin behind him knew what she was talking about and they shook their heads telling her not to ask him, but she gave them a quick glance that asked them to trust her._

_"Well...how about me?" she suggested with a nervous grin._

_"Wait, what?" Canard asked, looking like he didn't hear her correctly._

_"Canard, please," she implored, "I'm not saying I should join your team of very skilled commandos, but I am saying that I should help out with things here. You know, take care of the people you've already rescued. If that's the best I can do, then why not?"_

_"Uh, well, here's a why not: No way," Canard answered straight forwardly. "You know you should stay here."_

_"And do what? Be useless and afraid? Living in hiding like a worthless coward?"_

_"Twyla, now just listen," he requested calmly, "First of all, you are not a worthless coward. That's not what I'm asking you to be. What I am asking is that you be safe by staying here."_

_"Canard, you need all the help you can get," she insisted. "I know I'm not a Duck, but that still doesn't mean I don't care."_

_"I know you care," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I know you care a lot about us, even though you've only known three of us. But I'm not talking about you being different to our people, but that you're different to the Saurians. You know what they did to you before. What if they capture you and torture you again?"_

_"I'll be careful."_

_"Maybe so, but how much good will it do if you run into them again? I'm not calling you a weakling, Twyla, but you could still be their target and you may not be able to get away from them."_

_"But I'm involved in this, too," she agrued. "They took your homes away from you and they took me away from mine. We're all victims in this and I think I should help in some way."_

_"Twyla, we made a deal that you'd stay here until the war is over."_

_"I know, but I just think it'd be better if we..." she started, but Canard interrupted._

_"Look, you're staying here where you're safe, and that's final," he snapped._

_They all stared at him mouth-agaped, surprised to hear him raise his voice like that. Twyla's shocked expression turned into a mad face and with her hands on her hips, she spoke in a clear voice, "Excuse me, but you don't have the right to make decisions for me like that."_

_"Pardon me, but I'm the guy who saved your life," he countered, "And I think you owe it to me by staying up here."_

_"Hey, I know you saved my life and I'm forever grateful to you," she said gently yet her eyes still locked hard on him, "but if I'm gonna stay here, the least I can do is help out in any way I can. Canard, please, let me help."_

_"If you want to help, then stay here," he ordered, not knuckling under._

_"How is that helping?" she asked rather loudly. "Doing nothing but work-out, read, listen to music, looking at photos, and nothing else?"_

_"It's helping because here you don't get in anyone's way!" he shouted. All four pairs of eyes widened and Canard gasped when he realized he said the wrong thing. Twyla's expression looked hurt and she looked at the ground. "Twyla, wait, I..." he started to explain, reaching for her, but she evaded his grasp and ran into the bathroom, shutting the door._

_Canard went up to the door, trying to open it, but learned it was locked. "Twyla," he beckoned, knocking on the door. "Please, let me in." The only response he received was silence, and he sighed and leaned his head on the door._

_Suzette and Dr. Beakin looked at each other and they knew they had to talk to their friends. "My boy, why don't you and I talk for a bit?" Dr. Beakin suggested, taking Canard by the shoulder. "We'll let Suzette and Twyla have a little girl talk."_

_Canard didn't object and followed the good doctor out of the room. Suzette turned to the bathroom door and knocked. "Twyla, come on, let's talk. The boys are gone." Twyla was still quiet on the other side and the she-Duck told her, "Either you come out or I get Dr. Beakin's tools and remove this door from its hinges."_

_Twyla sighed in defeat and unlocked the door and stepped out of the bathroom to sit on the bed, her arms folded and her gaze fixed on the floor. Suzette smiled in sympathy and sat down next to her, putting an arm around her._

_"It's my fault he's mad," she said. "I know you guys keep telling me I shouldn't ask him about it, but..." She trailed off and set her face in her hands, her elbows leaning on her lap. "I messed up big."_

_"Hey, you were only speaking from your heart," Suzette consoled, "You want to help us instead of feeling like a burden up here, but you're not a burden. I know what Canard said a minute ago, but he didn't mean it. He only said that out of anger."_

_"...I know that now... Still..."_

_"Being in here for so long doing very little when there's so much going on and there are many poor souls who need all the help they can is getting to you," Suzette guessed right on the mark._

_"Mm-hmm," she nodded, "...I'm the one staying in here while everyone else is suffering and others are working to do something about it..."_

_Suzette grinned and rubbed her shoulder. "I understand."_

* * *

"I know it was your world and your war, but still that didn't stop the Saurians from pulling me into all of this insanity going on your planet. I just wanted to be of some assistance. Later, Dr. Beakin came in that night..."

* * *

_Twyla was lying on her front, her face hidden in her pillow, not believing that fight she had with Canard. She still wished she could help him and the others, but now she wished she hadn't mad him so upset._

_Then someone knocked and opened the door, making her look up to see Dr. Beakin coming in._

_"Sorry if I disturbed you," Dr. Beakin apologized, seeing the girl on her bed._

_"It's okay, doctor, I wasn't sleeping," she corrected, "I'm just thinking."_

_Dr. Beakin grinned, knowing what she was talking about. She buried her face in her pillow again as Dr. Beakin came up and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Well, I spoke to Canard about what happened," he told her, "and I kind of tried to convince him that maybe we should let you help just a little."_

_Twyla picked up her face to look at him, surprised to hear he'd do that even though he and Suzette suggested she shouldn't ask Canard to come out of the tower._

_"You know, helping the people we've rescued from some of the camps. Serve them food and hey, maybe even make them feel better telling them stories from your world and letting them listen to your songs. I mean, hearing everything you told us about made the three of us feel much better."_

_"Yes...that is something I'd like to do. They need something to make them a little happier. To put hope back in their hearts. I know that since you guys formed a Resistance, there is a spark of hope, but still, there's a lot I want to teach them to put more faith in them."_

_"Believe me, giving Canard, Suzette, and me the faith you've already given has really changed our point of view on things and makes us more determined to stop the Saurians and take back what's rightfully ours," he replied, patting her back._

_Twyla smiled at the middle-aged scientist and sat up from her bed. "I really want you all to trust I can be careful and that I wouldn't try to put myself in harm's way."_

_"I know you do," he understood, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "but when I tried to convince Canard, he said he just wants to keep you safe since you were so hurt the first day he found you. He does feel a great responsibility for you."_

_Twyla looked down at the floor, not knowing how to respond. She guessed she could understood Canard's feelings regarding her safety like that._

_"But right now, he does feel bad for saying you'd get in everyone's way. He didn't mean it, he just got carried away."_

_She nodded in understanding. After all, she was the one who pushed him to the edge. "...Would you mind if you can ask him to come up here?" she asked the good doctor. "I'd...like to apologize to him in person."_

_"Of course," he said, patting her hand, getting up._

_As she waited for Canard to see her, she thought of what to say to him to say she was sorry for making him so irritated. Then, at the sound of the door opening, she sat up straight as Canard came in._

_"Hi," he greeted a little shyly, waving to her._

_"Hi," she waved back, feeling awkward, too._

_"Dr. Beakin said you wanted to talk," he told her._

_"Yes, and I'd like to say I'm very sorry for my attitude earlier. I know all you want is to make sure the Saurians don't find me again if I leave the tower. After all, if I'd saved a person from being tortured and killed, I'd feel responsible for them, too."_

_Canard smiled at her understanding and walked up to her, bending down and holding her hand. "I appreciate you for knowing that...but another reason I want you to be safe is because I really want to introduce you to everyone after we get back our world. You've told us so many, many wonderful things about the stuff in your world, and you've given us new courage about life..." He put a hand on her face, saying, "And we'd love for you to give that to everyone else."_

_Twyla grinned and took both of his hands in both of hers. "That's something I want to do, too. You all deserve to have new faith. I'm not asking to be a hero and I don't want to be. I just want to help make everyone feel better in whatever way I can. There've been a lot of wars on my planet and believe me...I can understand how hard and heartbreaking it is for you all as well for my people."_

_Canard smirked and brought her in for a hug, her embracing him back. "I'm sorry, too, for saying you'd get in the way."_

_"It's okay," she reassured, patting his back, "I know you didn't mean it. I did kinda make you say that by pushin' ya."_

_"Hey, you just want to help..." he sighed, hoping she'd listen to reason when he said this. "But still, would you stay here...until the time is right?"_

_She blinked in thought and nodded. "All right, I'll wait this time."_

_"Thank you," he murmured._

_"Sure."_

* * *

"Well, we made up which is a good thing. Several weeks later, Canard and the others told me of how they found the Flashblade boys here and recruited them to help find Dragunus whom Canard found with the Mask of Drak DuCaine."

* * *

_Twyla stared in awe at the Mask that'd helped the ancient hero save the world centuries ago._

_"I can't believe it still works after all this time," she commented. "And it showed you the Saurians' hideout at Twin Beak?"_

_"That's right. We're gonna go there and stop Dragunus once and for all," Canard declared with a confident fist._

_"Now, beware, my boy," Dr. Beakin told him with a raised finger, "Dragunus will be a very dangerous opponent to face."_

_"And whoever else is working for him," Suzette added. She her hands on his shoulders, looking at him in the eye. "We believe you can beat him, but all we ask is that you be careful and come back alive."_

_"I'll try," he promised, holding both of her hands, "but we have to remember, sometimes we have to make sacrifices to do what's right for everyone."_

_Twyla knew he was right, but she still hoped he will come back safe and sound. "You all can do it," she said, standing next to Dr. Beakin. "I may not know your teammates yet, but I know they can help you stop Dragunus for good."_

_"Thanks," he nodded. He hugged Suzette rather tightly. Then he hugged Dr. Beakin and Twyla, telling her, "Today, we're all getting back what we've lost and then we'll find something even better."_

_Twyla nodded, embracing her first Duck friend tightly. He'd been like a brother to her and she prayed he and his team will come back. "Heaven be with you all."_

* * *

"Then...he took you all to Twin Beak where the Saurians were and fought them until they took their Raptor and used a Dimensional Portal to escape to another world, you all following them..." Looking up at the sadly, she added, "And we haven't heard from you ever since. We were all very worried and I'd missed Canard terribly, and so did Suzette and Dr. Beakin who missed Grin and Tanya and we all wondered when we were ever going to see you again."

"Hang on a minute," Mallory interrupted. "If you promised to stay in the tower, how is it you're in the Resistance?"

"I'm getting to that. You see, I was listening to my music until I noticed a shadow's feet under my door..."

* * *

_Twyla was listening to one of her songs,_ _Walk On The Water_, _and she remembered how much it helped motivate and heal the hearts of her friends, Canard, Suzette, and Dr. Beakin. How they missed Canard very much and each day they hope he'd come back soon. _

_Suddenly, she saw something under the door. A shadow and she tilted her head, wondering if it was either Suzette or Dr. Beakin, but they weren't opening the door. That person on the other side of the door remained there. Curious, Twyla turned up the music so whoever was at her door wouldn't her her come up and she knelt down to the floor and she looked under the door to see...rather small feet that looked like they belonged to a child._

_Twyla's eyes widened in surprise. Did someone's child wander all the way up here from the secret base below? She didn't know what to do. She was afraid this child would tell everyone about her... Then she thought for a moment. What if she...? She knew she promised Canard that she'd stay in the tower, but...he asked her to stay until the time was right..._

I'd been up here for too long...and I think the time is right. I know that's not what Canard meant, but...

_She made up her mind and decided to reveal herself. She knew Suzette and Dr. Beakin would be very upset, but she was doing what was right in her heart._

I just have to let this kid know I'm a good person and let him bring the people to meet me. Hopefully, this child won't be afraid of a human.

_Summoning up the courage, she opened the door to see a rather thin-looking male Duckling who was about either nine or ten and he had black hair and gray feathers wearing a raggedy red clothes. He looked up in complete shock to see the girl who had no beak or feathers._

_She leaned on the doorframe casually and joked, "What? Do I have something in my teeth?"_

_The boy just stared at her, not believing his eyes. He slowly stood up and tiltled his head in confusion._

_"No, I'm not a Duck, but I'm not a Saurian, either," she explained, as if he was reading his mind that was wondering what she was. "I'm a human from another planet called Earth." She couldn't believe how straight forward she was being right now, but she did decide to reveal herself, so she was just improvising._

_"Earth?" he echoed._

_"Yeah, it's a planet very, very far from Puck World. Unlike you and your people here, the ducks I'm from aren't people-like. They're little, don't wear clothes, or talk. To put it simply, they're animals, but most of them are very good animals. And the ducks there can fly."_

_"Whoa, they can actually fly?" he asked excitedly, forgetting for a moment he was talking to a human._

_She nodded, liking his sudden enthusiasm. "Yep, but unfortunately, they can't do the things our people can do. So I think you guys here have it better since you're all so much more advanced."_

_"Wait, how did you get here on Puck World?" he asked curiously._

_"I'm afraid I don't know, either," she confessed. "I just woke up in the Saurians' dungeon cell where a good Duck from the Resistance saved me and brought me here."_

_"You were the lizards' prisoner?"_

_"Uh-huh, for some reason, they kidnapped me from my home world and did something awful to my head, so I don't remember how I got her exactly."_

_"They took away your memory?"_

_"Unfortunately, yes," she answered sadly._

_"Do you still know who you are?"_

_"Oh, of course. Hi, my name is Twilight," she greeted with a smile, sticking her hand out, "but you can call me Twyla. What's your name?"_

_The boy looked at her hand for a second, then figuring she wasn't bad so far, he shook her hand. "I'm Bryan Ashfeather."_

_"Hi, Bryan. So, please, tell me, what brought you all the way up here? Does anyone know you're here?" she queried._

_"Well, you see, downstairs where everyone is at, a bunch of kids and I have noticed that Suzette and Dr. Beakin keep coming up here and we were all curious to know why. But they said we weren't allowed to come here under any circumstances."_

_"But curiosity got the better of you, huh?" she quipped._

_"Uh-huh," he nodded. "So I volunteered to find out what was up here and when I'd got through the door without the grown-ups looking and climbed up stairs, I reached the top floor and I heard a noise coming from the door. I tiptoed to the door and I listened to the song that sounded so pretty and I leaned my ear to the door to hear it better. I didn't know there was a person in here."_

_"Well, Bryan, no one knows I'm up here except for Suzette and Dr. Beakin..." she explained, looking down in sadness, "and the Duck who saved me. You see, they thought it'd be best if I stayed up here and remained a secret so the Saurians couldn't find me...and I've been in here for several months. I've been wanting to come out and I really wanted to meet all of you and see if there was anything I can do to help."_

_"You want to help us?" he asked._

_"Why not?" she shrugged. "Canard, the guy who saved me, helped me even though I'm different. To me, it doesn't matter how different we look. When people need help, someone's got to come and give them a hand."_

_"But if you're supposed to be a secret, why are you showing yourself to me?"_

_"Because...I think the time has come that I should leave and give you all the help you need," she answered in a calm, clear voice. "Do you think it's wrong?"_

_He thought for a moment and shook his head. "No, it isn't. Why should a person should be kept from helping everyone?" She smiled at his understanding for a child. "Do you want to go downstairs?"_

_"Well, yes, but truth be told, I'm very nervous," she confessed. "I've been up here for so long..."_

_"Don't worry, they'll like you," he told her, as if he was so sure._

_"I hope so, but is there another grown-up helping besides Suzette and Dr. Beakin?"_

_"There's Colonel McMallard."_

_"Great, can you talk to him first about me first and ask him along with Suzette and Dr. Beakin to come up here?"_

_"I'll try. Be right back," he called as he climbed downstairs._

_She waited in the room and she hoped the boy wouldn't get in too much trouble for coming up to the tower without permission and she hoped Suzette and Dr. Beakin wouldn't too angry with her for doing such a crazy stunt._

_Then she sat up straight at the sound of footsteps and heard voices._

_"She's here, sir. She asked for you all to come up here," Bryan insisted as his voice got closer to the door._

_"The boy does sound serious," a deep male voice said to someone whom she knew were Suzette and Dr. Beakin. "If there is a person up here, why haven't you all told us?"_

_Without a second thought, Twyla opened the door and she saw four Ducks, Suzette, Dr. Beakin, Bryan, and a tall Duck with peach-colored feathers and red hair and she knew it was the admiral._

_"Because, admiral, I was a prisoner of Dragunus a several months ago," she explained._

_The admiral stared in shock to see she was in fact a human who was living in the tower. "My word, the boy was right," he murmured. Turning to Suzette and Dr. Beakin again, he said, "And both you and Canard said nothing?"_

_"Wait, admiral, please," she pleaded, standing in between them and the red-haired Duck. "Let me explain."_

* * *

"So I explained to your father," Twyla explained, looking at Mallory who was amazed to hear she'd met her dad, "about how I woke up in a cell, hurt and tied up and why Canard wanted to keep me hidden until the war was over. He looked upset that Canard wasn't open with him and everyone else at first, but he seemed to believe me.

"And when I asked if I could help everyone, he wasn't sure at first, but Dr. Beakin spoke up on my behalf, saying I could help out with the smallest things. The admiral thought for a moment and he agreed, admitting they could use more help with the people who were already rescued.

"For several weeks, I've been helping on the kitchen, feeding everyone, and when the day was done, I'd get to know the people who'd ask me all sorts of questions about my home world and happily answered them all. They were amazed to hear the many stories I had to share and saw things...in a completely different way..."

Wildwing tilted his head when she looked at the ground with a small smile and a curious look in her eyes.

She shook her head slightly and went on. "I even showed them the pictures of my world and let them listen to the songs in my music player, which really made things more cheerful. They never looked so lively ever since... You know... And I was happy I could bring smiles back on their faces and get their minds off of the bad things, at least for the time being.

"Then one day... Drones found our secret base somehow and they broke, trying to destroy us. Luckily, the admiral was prepared and had an escape ship in case for emergencies and we quickly ran for our lives and climbed aboard.

"Suzette and I stayed behind everyone to make sure no one was left behind and when they were all aboard, we stepped in until a cry caught my ear. I turned to see a little boy with brown hair who was running to the ship and suddenly, a Drone came up was catching up to him. I didn't know what to do at first, but that Drone was going to kill that boy so I grabbed Suzette's blaster and ran up to the evil thing and blasted a single shot in each eye that distracted it and gave me enough time to grab the kid and jump into the escape ship.

"The boy's parents were overjoyed and grateful that their son was safe and sound. Although the admiral thought I was insane for doing that...he did seem kind of impressed with how I shot the Drone's eyes and how fast I was running bringing the kid to safety. I simply told him luck was just with me yet he had doubts about it. Then he asked if I'd like to train to be a commando. I couldn't believe my ears. Me, a commando.

"I told him I was flattered and honored, but I said that I wouldn't make a good soldier, but he disagreed and insisted because they needed as many warriors as possible. I thought about it and even though I felt scared at the thought of being on the frontlines, I was even more scared at the thought of innocent people getting hurt, so I said yes.

"Training wasn't easy, but with encouragement from Suzette and Dr. Beakin, and the tough attitude I usually had, I managed to do well and was able to go on teams to free more people from Drones.

"For several months, we've been working to make things easier on Puck World, but we still wondered what happened to you all. We knew Dragunus was still in charge even though he was in another world, but we were worried about you guys. One day, we sent spies to look sneak into a Saurian military camp and they gathered information of Drones coming to Earth.

"Of course I was shocked and horrified that the Saurians escaped to my world, but we also hoped that maybe you guys were here, too...and then an idea came into my head: Take a Drone and re-program it to be used as a vessel to sneak into the Saurian army and come to Earth. If there was a way to find you guys in this world, then we had to take a chance.

"After we found a Drone and broke it, we took what was left of it and Dr. Beakin and some fellow scientists took out some parts and made a seat inside its chest and installed controllers. We needed someone to work the Drone body so I volunteered myself. Earth is my planet and I also told them a human would probably be the best person to send.

"They agreed, although they were concerned, but I assured them after some test runs on the Drone suit that I could do it. So the time came that I would sneak into the Drone army and prepare for a dimensional travel..."

* * *

_Twyla, before she left, hugged her good friends, Suzette and Dr. Beakin._

_"You'll be careful?" Suzette asked._

_"I'll do what I can," she answered._

_"Please don't make us force you stay here," Dr. Beakin said bluntly, making the girls laugh._

_"I'll be careful," she promised more seriously, "And I'll find Canard and the others. And I'll let Tanya and Grin know how you two are doin'."_

_They nodded their thanks and let go of their dear human friend and watched her headed for her Drone vessel until she stopped at the sound of the admiral's voice. "Soldier."_

_She turned around and stook up straight. "Yes, sir?"_

_He gave a warm smile and a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck over there. And tell Mallory...I miss her very much and that she comes home soon."_

_"Can do, sir," she replied, patting her friend and teacher's hand. Bryan wanted so much to see her off and hugged her._

_"Do you have to go back to your world?" he asked, wishing she wouldn't leave._

_"I'm only goin' to get Canard and his team, but I will come back to help some more before I settle back on Earth again," she reassured, hugging him. She bent down and kissed the boy on his forehead. "A thank-you kiss for finding me in the tower and bringing the admiral to see me. It really benefited everyone."_

_"You're welcome," he smiled bashfully, wiping a small tear from the corner of his eye. With a final farewell to her friends and comrades, she hopped aboard the vessel with her things from Earth and closed its chest, going outside of the base and followed the Drones as they headed for the Saurian camp._

* * *

"So, I marched with the other Drones and waited for a portal to open to Earth and then the rushing vortex opened and we all flew in. Then the general announced, 'To invade Earth!' That filled my heart with fear. They were going to invade Earth at that moment and Dragunus has been here for how long? Of course I got an answer to that question when I saw your Migrator shooting at the Drone army. I was grateful to know that you all were alive, but not when you were all shooting at the Drones including myself, but I'm not gonna hold it against ya, like I said earlier.

"Besides, Earth is safe thanks to you. In fact, from what I've heard in Anaheim, you guys have been keepin' this world safe ever since you came here..." she smiled gratefully at them, but her face turned into a regretful expression. "Although, I bet a lot of people here had a hard time accepting outsiders like yourselves..."

"Oh, you might say that," Mallory replied, looking away with a rather sour look in her eyes.

"And for that, I'm really sorry," Twyla said with a hand on her chest. "It's just that some of my people are so hard-headed and arrogant about changes and new things. Things that are so different from what they're used to and..."

"Hey, it's okay," Wildwing assured her. "There are still people here who aren't so hard-headed and arrogant about off-worlders like us."

"I'm glad to hear that," she nodded approvingly. "And we all know what happened after the previous battle of the Drones' arrival, so end of story."

"Whoa," Nosedive said in amazement. "To think, a human was in our world and we had no idea at all."

"Well, you learn something new every day," Twyla said simply.

"Yeah, a lot of some things," Duke put in.

"I know I should've kept my promise to Canard, but I just..." Twyla started, but Wildwing interrupted her.

"Hey, you did what was right. The Resistance needed new recruits," he told her gently.

"And since my father was the one who approved of you when you saved that kid like that, then you were definitely good for the job," Mallory added matter-o-factly.

"Besides, had you not listened to your heart, you would not have been a member of the Resistance," Grin said.

"And you wouldn't be here to save our lives by traveling in that Drone all the way from Puck World," Tanya concluded.

"Otherwise, things everything would've been lost if no one was around to stop Dragunus from takin' over this world along with ours," Duke proclaimed. "We do really owe ya one, kid."

Twyla grinned and looked away in modesty. "It was nothin'. By the way, may I ask where in the world Canard is? I mean, he was never here and Wildwing is wearing the Mask himself."

Wildwing stared in surprise, knowing she hadn't heard the news of what'd happened to Canard...yet.

"Is he hurt? Is he sick? I mean, he is at the Pond, isn't he?" she persisted.

Wildwing looked at her and even though he had the Mask on, she could see regret in his eyes. "Guys, please tell me what happened," she implored.

Wing got up and knelt down in front of her, his hands on her shoulders, trying to find the right words to say. "You see, after we broke into Dragunus's palace, we..."

Twyla listened as he explained how things went wrong at Twin Beak and how the Saurians were escaping through the Dimensional Portal with the Ducks in pursuit. The Saurians tried to destroy them with some kind of electric worm and that it almost destroyed their jet and Twyla's eyes widened when she heard what Canard did to save his team, by giving himself to the worm so it'd leave everyone alone.

"He gave me this Mask and then the worm...took him away," Wildwing finished, his hands shaking at the memory of his best friend disappearing right before his eyes.

Twyla's eyes were wide and she took deep breaths to take in this terrible news. "So he's...? He's...?"

"We don't know for sure," Wildwing told her, trying to keep her from crying her heart out. "After we came to Earth, we found Dragunus again and he said that Canard was still trapped in Dimensional Limbo. That means he's still alive. We just need to get the portal from the Saurians and use it to find him and get back to our world."

"So...there's still a chance," Twyla said a bit quietly, a faithful smile forming on her lips. "We just need to find the Saurians, defeat them, and take the portal for ourselves." Twyla was very relieved that Canard must still be alive, but she was very sad he was lost in limbo, but she was still grateful that there was still a possibility of his survival.

"Right, but we don't know how long that'll take. We've been tracking him for months, you see, and..." Wildwing explained and then trailed off.

"Hey, we'll get them somehow," she reassured, holding his gloved hands, then stepped away from him. "'Cause now a new team is born...that is if you don't mind a human joinin' ya?" she said nervously, scratching her head.

"Well, it will be weird having a human on our side like this," Mallory admitted, but smirked.

"But you did kinda prove yourself today by savin' us," Duke added.

"Plus, you joined the Resistance back at home," Tanya pointed out.

"What's the harm if you joined our little band?" Nosedive asked with a shrug.

"Then it looks like I'm in, but before we do anything, I don't believe I've properly introduced myself." She bowed and said formally and pleasantly, "Twyla Zureikat at your service."

"Wow, a human at our service," Dive commented. "I kinda like the concept."

"Now let me guess who you all are," Twyla said, coming up to the red-haired Duck shaking her hand. "Mallory McMallard. I can it's you since you look so much like your dad."

"And...how is he?" she asked worriedly.

"He's just fine...and he says he misses you very much," she answered in sympathy as Mal turned her head away, though she was happy to know her father was well.

Turning to the make Duck with the eye patch, she shook his head. "Duke L'Orange, the swordsman, I presume."

"And a former jewel thief," he added, "I hope that won't bother ya."

"It doesn't," she said straight forwardly. "I mean, you've changed and you're helpin' out, so what's there to worry about?"

Duke seemed taken aback at her response, then grinned and ruffled her hair. "I like this kid," he pronounced, "She ain't judgmental unlike another red head here."

Mallory gave him a scornful look when he hinted her and it made Twyla kind of nervous, not wanting to be in the middle of things.

Turning to Tanya, Twyla shook her hand and said, "And you're Tanya Vardflock, an expert technician and Dr. Beakin's favorite student."

"Oh, he said that?" the female blonde said, looking bashful.

"Yep, he's told me a lot about you," she nodded. "And in case you're wondering, he's fine and he sends you his regards."

Tanya nodded in gratitude to hear her beloved teacher was all right. Turning to Grin, she shook his big hand and said, "Check Hardwing, but according to your cousin Suzette, you go by Grin, right?"

"That is correct," he confirmed, "And how is she?"

"She's doing just fine. She's been worried about you and says she hopes to see you again soon."

Grin nodded, feeling the same way.

Turning to the last two drakes, she said, "And the Flashblade brothers." She pointed to the white and then to the blonde male Duck, "Wildwing and Nosedive, yes?"

"That's right," Wing nodded.

"You got it, girlfriend," Dive added, both boys shaking her hand.

"Canard told me all the fun he had with you two and the trouble you would get in," she said, glancing a hinting look at Nosedive who frowned.

"Gee, I hope he's not blaming anybody," Dive remarked sarcastically, his big brother wrapping a reassuring arm around his shoulder.

"Well, trouble is your middle name, baby brother," Wing told him, getting a glare from the young blonde, making Twyla giggle.

"Welcome to the team, little friend," Grin told her with a warm smile.

"Thanks," she replied.

"No, Twyla, thank you," Wildwing said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Like we said before, we do owe you for saving us in there."

"Oh, well," she gushed, looking away bashfully.

"Consider yourself a new teammate of the Mighty Ducks," Wildwing announced.

Twyla grinned in gratitude. Although she was still sad of Canard, she still had hope that he was alive and she prayed she'd do a very good job to help her new team in any way she could. She only hoped that they'll find the Saurians soon and bring peace back to Earth and Puck World from Dragunus's tyranny forever.

* * *

(Hey, sorry it took me so...long to update this. I've been lazy. Bad me! *slaps wrist*. But I'll try to update more soon. Until then, God bless.)


	4. Moving In

**Chapter 4: Moving In**

The Mighty Ducks took Twyla and her Drone vessel to Anaheim in the Aerowing and they couldn't help but ask her some questions along the way.

"Hey, Twyla, if you're from Earth, where exactly do you live on this planet?" Nosedive asked.

"I live in Texas, in a town called Beaumont," she explained. "It's just me, my mom, my grandma, and my sister."

"Well, wait, hang on, if you're back on this planet, shouldn't we call them?" Mallory pointed out, "And let them know what happened to you?"

"Yeah, after bein' away so long, they must've been worried to death about ya," Duke agreed.

"Well, guys, honestly...I can't give them a call," she confessed hesitantly.

"What do you mean? Don't you want to see how your family's doing?" Wildwing asked.

"Of course I do, but I can't because... How do I say this?" she murmured to herself, her hand on her head. "When I first came to Earth, I noticed a shocking discovery: This is Earth, but it's not...my Earth."

"Excuse me, but what do you mean not _your _Earth?" Duke queried.

"Well, it is an Earth...just not the Earth I'm familiar with. I believe the Earth I'm on with you all now is another Earth."

"Whoa, wait, hang on a minute," Nosedive requested, getting weirded out even more than before. "Are you saying you're from a different Earth?"

"As in from another universe?" Tanya added.

"You got it," Twyla replied, "You see, everything on this Earth looks completely different than my Earth. Both Earths have the same landscapes and cities and animals and plants, but just the look of them is different. And...also, this Earth doesn't have the stores and companies my world has. Like Wal-Mart, H-E-B, Walgreens, Ford Cars, T-Mobile. Those places are very common on my Earth. I mean, have you guys ever seen or heard of those things here?"

"Not particularly," Duke answered.

"Then, that explains it. And another thing, it's not just the space here that's different, the time is different, too. Here, it's 1996. Where I'm from it's 2014."

"2014?!" they all cried in disbelief.

"Yeah, if you guys don't believe me, here's my ID." Twyla pulled out her identification card and gave handed it to Mallory who took a look at her date of birth.

"She's right. She was born on June 4th, 1993," Mallory told them all. "And she got this around August in 2012."

"Let me see that," Tanya said, taking the card from Mal.

"It's not fake," Twyla assured them.

"Well, we're not denyin' that, kid," Duke told her, so she wouldn't feel offended. "We're just findin' it hard to believe you're from a different Earth in a different time."

"Well, now you all know how I felt when I woke up mysteriously in your world," she shrugged, then murmured half to herself, "but at least you know how you got here."

"Hang on," Tanya spoke up after looking at the ID card. "If you were born in 1993, then here in September 1996, you'd be three-years-old."

"But since you're from 2014, you'd be..." Mallory started to guess.

"20-years-old," Twyla answered for her. "Well, 20 in a half, actually."

"Whoa, you're 20?" Nosedive asked, not believing how old she was.

"You got it, kiddo," Twyla replied, winking at the youngest member here.

"Yikes," Duke said with slightly wide eyes, "I mean, when I first saw you, I thought you were 16."

"I thought you were 15," Mallory confessed.

"I thought you were 14," Nosedive concluded.

"Well, my feathered friends," Twyla explained, playing with her ponytail, "when you don't wear make-up and have a short height, it can make you look younger."

"I'll say," Wildwing agreed.

"Actually, it was your deep voice that made me believe you were older than you looked," Grin said.

"Glad you noticed," she thanked. "Suzette said you don't judge by outward appearances."

"It seems you don't judge by outward appearances, either," Wildwing spoke up. "I mean, you weren't even scared of Canard when he found you at all. But when we came here, a lot of people freaked out."

"Yeah, well, I prefer getting to know a person and then judge them by their actions," Twyla told him.

"Whoa..." Nosedive replied in awe, "Duke was right, you're not judgmental."

Twyla smirked and looked away, "Thanks. Believe it or not, there are humans like me who would think you guys were cool without getting scared first, especially if they saw you all in action, saving lives and such."

"And why is it we ended up on this Earth and not hers?" Nosedive asked everyone, seeing how unfair this felt so far.

"Better question: How is it, if Dragunus knew about Earth, that he came to his one and not hers?" Wildwing put in.

"It's a real mystery, my friends," Twyla said, "but honestly, even though I've been missing my friends and family at home and I don't want this world in any danger, either, I'm glad this isn't my Earth because I'd hate for my people to deal with those lizards."

"We can't say we blame you, Twyla," Wildwing sympathized, "but since we know that the Saurians are still around, there's a possible chance they still have the Dimensional Portal and once we get it, we can find Canard in Dimensional Limbo, get back to Puck World, and use it to send you back to your Earth."

"Not a bad idea at all," Twyla remarked, "The most difficult things we have to do first are 1: Find the Saurians. And 2: Beat them to get what we want."

"Well, even though it's been a while since we've seen them, they usually attack the planet often, so we'll definitely be hearing from them soon," Wildwing assured.

"In the mean time, we've got to get you settled in at our place," Duke told Twyla, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, the Pond, and I believe it's underneath the stadium," Twyla remembered.

"Yeah, since you saw us bringing our Aerowing out of it when you came in." Mallory recalled.

"Yep, and while we're talking about it, how is it that you became a hockey team?" Twyla asked curiously, "I've heard rumors that you're really good hockey players when I came to Anaheim."

"That part is true," Nosedive answered, looking proud.

"Well, you see, we needed a place to keep up our hockey skills," Wildwing explained, "so we met up with two people working at a comic book named Thrash and Mook and they introduced us to the Pond itself and sitting on its steps we met our manager Phil."

"And he gave you a rink to play in and you turned it into your own personal headquarters afterwards, yes?" Twyla queried.

"You got it," Duke replied.

"Well, it was nice of this Phil to help you get the Pond so you'd have a place to stay," Twyla commented.

"Yes, if only he'd be a bit nicer not helping us being popular on this planet," Nosedive complained, sulking in his chair.

"You guys didn't want to be known?" Twyla guessed. "Well, since this Earth is touchy against off-worlders like yourselves, I don't blame you all..."

"No, that's not it," Duke corrected. "You see, it's how Phil makes us popular that's _really _unappreciated."

"Uh-oh. Should I ask for the details?" Twyla questioned carefully.

Everyone was silent for a moment and Twyla felt like they were all shuddering inside their minds.

"We'd rather not talk about it," Wildwing answered honestly.

"Then I won't ask," Twyla replied.

"But don't worry, he won't bother ya," Duke assured. "I mean, you'll only be our teammate in our commando squad, not hockey team and he is the manager of us as a hockey team, so he won't think of anything to do to ya."

"Glad I have nothing to worry about," Twyla smiled. "So is Phil the only human helping you out? Any other allies on Earth?"

"As far as personal allies, it's just you," Mallory said.

"And wait 'til folks hear there's a new teammate in town," Duke added.

"Yeah, they'll be shocked to hear there's a human from a totally different Earth," Dive agreed.

"I know they'll be shocked...and I know they'll be curious," Twyla said, in a quiet, deep tone that puzzled the Ducks. "That's why I don't want anyone here to know about my origins."

"What? Why?" Wildwing asked, surprised she'd say that.

"Because if the people here are judgmental of people like you who look different from them, imagine how they'd react if they heard about a person like me from a different universe. They'd want to ask personal questions. In fact, there'll probably be scientists who'd want to do experiments on me." Twyla shuddered at the idea. She didn't remember if the Saurians did that to her or not, but they must've done a horrible experiment on her that made her lose her memory, as well as given her bruises and a very sore head. "I mean, haven't there been scientists who've wanted to do experiments on you, too?"

The Ducks were gravely silent for a moment and she knew the answer to that question. "Say no more, then," she said, "But now you all understand that I don't want my background to be discovered by the people here."

The team looked at each other for a moment and they nodded in agreement. "Okay, Twyla, we won't say anything to anyone about where you're from," Wildwing assured her, making her nod in gratitude. "We'll just tell them...you came out of nowhere all of a sudden, helped us out, and we welcomed you as a part of the team."

"Which is kinda true," Duke added.

"Sounds good to me," Twyla agreed.

"What about Phil? He knows everything about us," Nosedive pointed out.

"Yeah, and he told Cap. Klegghorn of the police force everything," Mallory put in, bluntly.

"Then again, it's not like we have secret identities," Tanya thought aloud. "I mean, we are the only Duck people on this planet."

"But maybe Cap. Klegghorn won't tell anyone anything about her," Wildwing said. "Since he's learned to trust us, he might trust her and keep her secret. What do you think, Twyla?"

"Well...if Cap. Klegghorn can keep quiet about me, then...I guess it'd be okay," she replied, "But this manager of yours with a big mouth, I have mixed feelings with."

"Wish we felt that way, too, before we agreed to let him be our manager," Nosedive muttered under his breath.

"Well, he comes to our headquarters a lot, so he's gonna wonder why you're around when he sees you," Wildwing put in, "We'll have to tell him, but we'll be strict with him when we tell him your origins must be kept a secret."

"I sure hope he'll understand the consequences," Twyla replied. "So if you're all a hockey team, you guys play in games against the humans teams here, right?"

"Yeah, and let us tell you, the humans here don't know how to play a clean game," Nosedive explained.

Twyla sighed regretfully and said, "Well, I'm afraid some humans, the ones on my planet as well, like to play very, very rough. Aren't there just a few fair, nice hockey players here?"

"Just a few," Duke answered with a frown.

"Sorry to hear that, but hey, I'm sure there are some good players you haven't met yet," she said, being positive.

"There might be," Wildwing agreed. "I mean, if there are humans like you who'd judge people by their actions and not their looks, there are humans who play fairly, too."

"Exactly," Twyla replied, pointing at the white drake leader.

"Do you play hockey, Twyla?" Nosedive asked.

"Hockey?" she echoed, with an amused smirk. "I've never even skated before, let alone play hockey. No, I'm afraid sports and I don't get along very well."

"That's too bad," Duke replied, patting her shoulder. "You don't know what you're missin'."

"I think both Earths can handle it," Twyla assured. Besides, sports weren't her concern. Her concern was doing a good job helping these guys and getting the Dimensional Portal from the Saurians, and to keep her whereabouts a secret in this world for the time being.

* * *

The Mighty Ducks flew the Aerowing into the Pond and they helped Twyla put up her Drone vessel in the weapons' arsenal.

Once the red robot was in its own spot, Mallory looked at it, looking unsettled. "You know, even though I know you used this thing to save us today," she told Twyla, "it still makes me uneasy seeing it in our H.Q."

"To be honest, there were times that getting near this Drone scares me, too," Twyla admitted, "After all, I've seen what they can do on Puck World." She remembered how a Drone nearly killed that little boy she rescued and she saw how it nearly destroyed other innocent lives, too.

Wildwing saw the look of fear and she could tell she was thinking of scary memories and put a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't we show you around?" he suggested. Twyla nodded and after putting on her blue-and-black doufle bag that she brought with her to this world, she let the Ducks take her on a tour of the Pond, showing her the training hall, the living room, the dining hall, the kitchen, and then they showed her the biggest computer she'd ever seen.

She stared at the thing in amazement as Tanya explained, "This is called Drake 1. It alerts us whenever trouble goes on and tell us where to find it."

"So that means, whenever the Saurians are causing mischief, this tells you immediately, right?" Twyla queried.

"That's right," Wildwing nodded.

"And you made it with the technology on this planet?" Twyla asked.

"Well, it's all we could make it with, I'm afraid," Tanya answered reluctantly, "I mean, no offense, but, uh, the stuff in your... Well, this world is so..."

"Ancient compared to your stuff in your world?" Twyla guessed, looking at her finger nails.

"Uh-huh," Tanya nodded.

"Ah, well, I know you guys are an advanced race and all, but here it's better than havin' nothin' to work with at all. Although, if you guys were in my world in my time, you'd have better stuff to work with."

To prove it to them, she put down her duffle bag and pulled out her black Kyocera Brio cell phone. "Now this is somethin' you don't see in 1996," she explained, showing them the phone's features. "It not only has a camera, but it's got a alarm clock, a calculator, and a calendar in its tool settings. And another thing that makes it really fancy is that these type of phones you can connect to the Internet without a computer."

"Really?" Dive asked in amazement.

"Yeah, in fact, this phone can sorta serve like a mini computer seeing the little keyboard on it. Although, I never play on the Internet with this thing. I hate to mess with it. Actually, I only use this thing to take pictures and use it to call people when I have to."

"Ah, so you're just using it for emergencies," Duke understood. "Not a bad idea."

"Yeah, 'sides, I'm more comfortable playin' on the Internet with my laptop, which I, unfortunately, do not have with me, but it's okay. It wouldn't do me any good in this world than my phone here."

"Why? This phone looks like it's working just fine," Mallory thought.

"Yes, but I can't use it to call anyone. I mean, I can turn it on and recharge its battery, but...whom can I call in this world when the phone company doesn't exist here?" she pointed out.

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to work these kind of devices here when the companies who made them aren't here," Tanya agreed.

"Thankfully, my iPod works just fine. It's a music player than can connect to the Internet, too, but of course that feature doesn't work, either." She pulled out the pink device and turned it on. "It takes a few seconds for it to come on," she told them while they were waiting. "It's a device that responds to a person's touch."

"Ah, a device that senses nerves," Tanya observed, looking impressed.

"Yep, and there are a lot of songs and pictures that everyone in Puck World loves to hear and see. In fact, before I left, Dr. Beakin copied the songs and some of the pictures for everyone to have...and I was more than happy to let him borrow this to do so."

"Wow..." the blonde female Duck replied. "...They must've really liked your stuff."

"Well, they were fascinated by it, the pictures of my world, and the songs cheer them up, which is good. After all, with everything going on, they deserve somethin' to make them happy." She smiled when she remembered people's happy faces whenever they'd hear her songs and ask her to dance and sing along. Although she was shy, she gave in and joined in the fun and felt a lot better herself.

"I see you've been doing a really good job making things nice for everyone back home," Wildwing commented, patting her shoulder.

Twyla smirked. Before she could say something else, the lock screen came on and they saw a man with short brown hair and beard in a white robe holding a lamb.

"Hey, this is the same guy that was on your phone's screen," Mallory pointed out.

"Yeah, who is this guy that's in both of your gadgets?" Duke asked curiously.

"He looks like a shepherd," Grin thought.

Twyla smiled, the biggest smile the Ducks had ever seen on her face, so far. "Oh, well, you're right, Grin, he is a shepherd, in a way," she explained, her big smile still remaining, "but he's actually not so different from the lamb itself, either. To put it simply, guys, this man...is much more than a man." Her big smile softened as well as her bluish-green eyes. "He happens to be the greatest hero in this or any world. Greater even than Drake DuCaine himself."

"Whoa, wait, this guy is greater than Drake DuCaine?" Nosedive questioned with a raised eyebrow. "But if he's just a shepherd, what can he do?"

"I said he is a shepherd in a way," Twyla corrected, "a shepherd to people and he brings them together like a flock by spreading a very important message, so they can have eternal life."

"Hang on, wait a minute," Wildwing requested, getting weirded out. "What does all of this mean? Who is he? And how does a message give people eternal life?"

"Well, you see, his name is..." she began to explain, but suddenly the door opened and in came a big-boned man in a blue business suit looking a tad bit annoyed.

"There you guys are," he said walking up to them. "I've been looking all over for you. I made an appointment for you all to be sponsors to a dish-washing advertisement gig, but I had to cancel because you all weren't here."

"A dish-washing ad?" Twyla echoed quietly to Dive.

"Yeah, like we told ya on the way here, he thinks up of the dumbest things for us to be famous," Dive muttered, rolling his eyes, shaking his head.

"We're sorry, Phil, but we had a Drake 1 emergency," Wing explained, getting up. "The Saurians are back."

"Look, I..." Phil started to complain, but stopped when he heard the word Saurians. "Those guys are back?"

"Oh, yeah, and they're playin' dead serious this time," Duke replied. "They nearly had us, and we mean _nearly_."

"But thanks to our new teammate, Twyla here," Dive added, patting both of his hands on her shoulders, "she came to our rescue and shot down all three of their Drones and even stunned Wraith. Then, when they left an explosive before they split, she got us out of there in the nick of time."

"Whoa, that's impressive," Phil remarked, "Wait, who's Twyla?" The Ducks moved aside to reveal the human girl who waved at their manager.

"Hi, you're Phil, right?" she greeted, sticking out her hand.

"That's right, babe, Phil Palmfeather," he greeted back shaking her hand. She raised her eyebrow at the name babe, but didn't let it bother her. "And you're the girl I have to thank for saving my franchise... I mean, my team?"

The Ducks sort of glared at them for calling them his franchise.

"Well, yeah," she replied, shyly. "It was my pleasure. I mean, things were really gettin' bad over there. I'm just glad I wasn't too late."

"Me, too. If anything happened..." Phil started to say, but then stopped looking very confused. "Wait a minute, how exactly did you beat three Drones and take down Wraith?"

"By using a broken Drone's body as a battle suit," she answered simply.

"Oh, wel, that makes sense," he nodded, but his eyes went wide. "And how did you get a Drone to use as a battle suit?"

"Why don't you sit down, Phil?" Wildwing suggested, putting a hand on Twyla's shoulder. "It's a very long story."

* * *

After about 15 or so minutes, Twyla explained to Phil how she came to Puck World mysteriously, got rescued by Canard, remained a secret until the Mighty Ducks disappeared to Earth, be discovered by Bryan, joined the Resistance for several months until she learned to work a Drone vessel, used it to come to this world, find the Ducks, saved their lives, and how she told them all of her being from another Earth in another time.

"And so here I am, a new member of the famous heroes/hockey team Mighty Ducks," she concluded, then leaned her elbows on her knees, her face resting on her hands. "Does all of this make sense, so far?"

"Surprisingly, yes," the manager nodded. "I mean, if I can believe aliens Ducks came from another world, I can believe your story."

"Good," she replied in approval, straightening her back, looking just a little serious. "Because I would sincerely appreciate it if you wouldn't tell a soul about my origins at all."

"Wait, why? The world knows about the Ducks," he reasoned.

"Yes, because _you _were the one who told their story for them," she pointed out straight forwardly.

"Yeah!" the Ducks agreed sharply, making the human man flinch at their irritated tone.

"You guys didn't say I couldn't tell anybody about ya," Phil excused.

"We didn't say you could, either," Duke put in.

"Seriously, Phil, we agree with her on this," Wildwing spoke up. "There are people, namely mad scientists who want to do painful experiments on us. If they find out about Twyla..." He trailed off, shuddering at the idea of Twyla being strapped on a lab table and being tortured alive. "No, we keep quiet about this."

"And we mean 'we' as in you, too, Phil," Mallory said firmly, "Especially you."

"Please, Phil, it's important that my background stays classified," Twyla implored.

Phil thought for a second and he sighed, "Oh, all right, I'll keep my mouth closed. But what about Cap. Klegghorn? He was the one who made me tell him about you."

"If this captain of the police wants to know about me, then I'll be the one to tell him myself," Twyla pronounced. "As long as he keeps it a secret, too."

"I'm sure he will," Wildwing assured, patting her knee.

"And what do you suppose we should tell folks when they find out the Mighty Ducks have a human teammate?" Phil queried.

"Simple: We say she came out of nowhere, saved us from the Saurians, and since we were impressed with her fighting skills, we took her in as one of us," Duke answered.

"Since she has no place to stay," Dive added.

"So basically, we'll say I'm just a loner who popped up to help the guys in time," Twyla concluded.

"I guess that's believable," Phil agreed thoughtfully.

"Hopefully so," Wing replied a little quietly.

"Of course, it will be weird to have an only human in a team of Ducks, but I think it'll really grab the public's attention when they hear they have a new team player," Phil proclaimed, "I can see it in the headlines now, 'Mighty Ducks and their new Mighty Human.' Yeah, and they'll love seeing a human playing on the ice with you guys and..."

"Hold it, Phil," Twyla interrupted, "but who says I'm playing on the ice with them? I'm their new teammate, yes, but a new commando teammate, not hockey teammate."

"You see, Twyla's never even skated before and she says she's not into sports," Wildwing explained.

"Oh, but you guys can teach her," Phil reasoned, "She'll get the hang of it."

"Phil, no," Twyla told her gently, but firmly. "I'm only a commando, not a hockey player."

"But the public..." Phil started to argue, but Twyla put a hand up.

"Can deal with the fact that I'm only helping them to fight for justice, not for sport. And I'm sure you can deal with that fact, too," she assured with a wink. "And if they can't, then that's their problem."

"Right on," Dive cheered, sticking out a palm for her to give him five.

"Well, her mind is made up, Phil," Wing told him.

"That's okay. Just wait 'til the idea of hockey gets to you, then you'll change your mind," Phil pronounced rather confidently.

"Hmph," she replied, not convinced. Suddenly, something in Phil's pocket chimed and he pulled out his beeper. "Oh, man, I got to take this. I think it's someone calling for you guys to do a publicity stunt."

The Ducks groaned and slapped their heads as Phil left the room.

"Yeah, I can definitely see why you guys all adore him," Twyla said sarcastically.

"It's that obvious, ain't it?" Duke asked with a grin.

"We're sorry about him," Wing apologized.

"Hey, you got your good and you got your bad," she shrugged.

"Thankfully, at least we got one good human on our side," Mallory remarked.

"A good and useful one," Tanya added.

"And a brave one," Duke put in.

"And an athletic one," Dive concluded.

"Say that louder," Twyla told them, with a wink, "I don't believe Phil heard you insulting him."

That made the Ducks laugh.

"Well, hey, is it our fault you have the qualities he doesn't?" Nosedive chuckled with a shrug.

"No," she answered, "but I do appreciate the compliments."

"And we appreciate that the compliments are true," Wing said with a hand on her arm, making her smile. Then her smile vanished and her face turned awkward when her stomach growled and her face turned bright red, making her hold her abdomen and grin nervously.

"Sorry, I didn't eat much today," she apologized, looking away.

"Well, what did you eat and when?" Wildwing asked.

"Some toyon berries I found in the woods I was staying at, and that was my lunch around noon. The only things I could find over there."

"Well, then, let's get ya some indoor chow, kid," Duke announced, ruffling her hair, then taking her hand to gently pull her out of her seat..

"Sounds good to me," she replied with a smile, her face turning back into its normal color as she followed him.

"Get ready, girlfriend, 'cause we're makin' ya a welcome feast to remember," Dive told her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"That's nice," she thanked, "but there's no need to make a big deal out of it."

"Yes, it is," Mallory denied, following the three, "You did save our lives, after all."

"And you've been through a lot to get here and find us," Tanya added.

"So you deserve something," Duke put in.

"And you've been doing really well for everyone on Puck World," Grin added.

"So you most definitely deserve something," Wildwing finished.

The Ducks made her a big coarse meal that tasted better than the berries for a change, and they all listened to her explain what'd been going on at Puck World and they told her of the crazy adventures they had here on Earth. She was glad to hear they were getting used to this planet well enough despite some of the humans' indifferent judgments towards their outlooks.

Thankfully, like they told her, some other humans were nice to the Ducks and liked them and appreciated them, which was good. She also couldn't believe the things they saw here on this Earth. That there were aliens from other worlds in this universe and the City of Atlantis.

They went through a lot of tough times, but they pulled through them all just like the good team they were and she knew Canard and everyone back in their world would be as proud and impressed as she was.

And Twyla had to admit, she did like these guys. They weren't much different from the others back on Puck World whom she would miss while she was staying over here and she was still very sad that Canard was trapped in another dimension, but thankfully there was a way to save him.

Right now, she wanted to get to know her teammates who gratefully seem to like her, so far. She just hoped she could keep a good impression... She also couldn't wait to tell them about the very special shepherd whom everyone on Puck World know which is why they were much more faithful and braver about getting their homes back.

Hopefully, her new friends would also like to learn about him, so they'd be more confident and determined in finding the Saurians and get back their former leader and their home world forever.

* * *

(Guess who the special shepherd is? Hmm? On the tips of your tongues? ;) Please give me your comments and reviews, but if they're mean, I'm deleting them. God bless until the next chapter.)


	5. Learning The Way

**Chapter 5: Learning The Way**

Twlya was getting settled in her new bedroom which she was going to have to herself, something she wouldn't be complaining about much. While she was unpacking, she heard a knock on her door and she called, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Wildwing stepping in. "Hi," he greeted.

"Hi, what brings you here?" she asked with a smile.

"I was just walking by and I thought I'd come and ask how you were doing," he answered.

"Well, I'm fine," she answered as she put her cell phone and iPod and its dock at a small table that was close to her bed. "Just putting my things in their place."

"Need any help?" Wildwing offered.

"No, thank you," she declined politely, flattered at his kind gesture. "I'm almost done, anyway."

"Oh, okay," he replied, but he remained in the room, leaning against the wall his arms folded as he watched her getting everything into place. Twyla wondered about his silent stare towards her, then she had a good feeling why. She was someone who knew his best friend and she thought perhaps he wanted to ask her some questions.

"You've got something you like to talk to me about?" she asked.

Wildwing blinked as if she was reading his mind. He looked away for a moment, trying to find the right words to say.

"You can ask me anything, you know." she told him.

Wildwing looked at her again, this time with the courage to reply. "Well, it's just..." he started to say, pushing himself from the wall, rubbing the back of his head. "I just...I just wish Canard had told us about you."

Twyla was silent for a moment, then she said, "He told Suzette and Dr. Beakin... Then again, you thought he'd be open with his best friend."

"Yes...I do," he responded, looking at the floor.

Twyla stepped towards him, and said, "Wildwing, it wasn't like he wouldn't trust you. If he didn't trust you...would he ask you to be leader of the team?"

Wildwing looked at her as she went on. "I know you feel left out that he wouldn't tell you of all people...but he just didn't want to take chances... He felt responsible for me since he was the one who rescued me..." She put her hands on his folded arms as she said, "but that doesn't mean he wouldn't tell you guys at all. He did say he'd introduce me to you all after everything was over..."

A look of guilt came to her face when she murmured, "Only he won't have to worry about that seeing as how I took matters into my own hands. Honestly, I feel like I've...done wrong to a friend, too. I mean, he asked me to stay in the tower, but...I didn't. I broke my promise by deciding to leave..."

Wildwing stared at her and she could see she had to make some tough decisions to go against a good friend's wishes...just to do what was right for others. Not only did she leave the tower, but she made his people happy, and making sure they were taken care of and volunteering herself to work a Drone vessel to come to this world...and she had to be all by herself for days in the woods until she had enough supplies to put more fuel in the robotic suit of hers...

"It seems like you two have something in common," he told her, a hand on her shoulder. "You made sacrifices to do what was right for everyone."

Twyla looked up at him, hearing the same words Canard told her, Dr. Beakin, and Suzette before he left to fight at Twin Beak. Although she felt sad, she couldn't help but grin at his comment and nodded.

"For all it's worth, Twyla," he said, "I think leaving the tower was the best thing to do."

She nodded again, putting her hand on his. "I think so, too." Then she looked down with tired eyes.

"You okay?" he asked when he noticed this look on her face.

"Mm-hmm," she nodded. "I'm just exhausted. It's been a long day."

"Oh, right. Then you probably want to get some sleep," he replied, then headed out the door. "I'll just leave you alone now."

Before she left, she called, "Hey," and made him stop at the door to look at her. With a smile, she said, "Like I said, if you ever want to talk to me about anything...don't be afraid to say anything."

It was a little hard to tell with the Mask on, but she had a feeling he was grinning when he nodded. "Thanks, I'll remember that." With a wave that bid her good night, he left the room.

When Twyla had finished unpacking, she decided to turn in, enjoying the comfort of the soft bed. She turned to the side to see her iPod on the table next to her and she remembered something.

"That's right, I didn't explain to them about the special shepherd tonight..." With a smirk, she said, "That's okay, I'll tell them in the morning." She rested her head on her pillow, grinning at the thought of telling her new friends all about her great hero tomorrow. She knew that they would go to bed sleeping the same way tonight, but tomorrow, after learning all about him, they would feel completely different.

* * *

That night, in the Saurians' air craft, the Raptor, Siege was explaining to his master Dragunus what'd happened to the trap in the mines and how they got a really unexpected attack from one of the Drones that stunned Wraith and quite possibly rescued the Ducks since Chameleon reported back to inform that he couldn't find the bodies in that cave-in.

"So let me get this straight, Siege," Dragunus said in his throne after his orange henchman was done talking, "One of our Drones went rogue and defeated you and saved the Ducks?"

"It was a Drone," Siege affirmed, "but I think someone stole it from us. Like I said before, there was a voice. A female voice. I think there was a girl operating one of our killing machines to turn it into her own weapon to use it against us."

"A girl stole a robot of ours and somehow changed it into her own battle armor?" Dragunus demanded, standing up from his throne, making Siege shiver in fear at his irritated tone. "How can anyone possibly do something like that?"

"I don't know, sire, but there was something about that voice of hers..." Siege thought, "Something that's familiar."

Wraith, who was recovering from the stun attack in the mines, stepped in. "So you're saying you know the girl that attacked us?"

"I think so, but I don't remember who it is. It sounds like someone I met a very long time ago."

"Hmm..." Wraith said, looking away to think, "Now that you mention it, the voice did seem familiar to me, too."

"What about you, Chameleon?" Dragunus asked his green lackey. "Did the voice spark your memory, too?"

"Maybe," the crazy-eyed lizard shrugged. "I don't know."

Dragunus groaned and slapped his forehead. "All right, well, two out of three who recognize the voice is good, but it's not good that neither don't remember whose voice it was."

"If I recall," Siege announced, "I believe I remember hearing that voice of hers in Puck World."

"What?!" Dragunus screamed, making his followers cower below him. "A Duck from Puck World?!" The red lizard clenched his fists, smoke coming from his nostrils, and his eyes glowing red. "That is the last thing we need! Now another Duck has joined those miserable mallards! As if having six wasn't bad enough!"

Dragunus panted and punched a piece of the top of his throne off. With an agitated yet a little quieter tone, he ordered, "When we see the Mighty Ducks again, I want to know who this new female Duck is, understand?"

"Roger dodger, boss," Chameleon replied with a salute. Dragunus glared at him for saying that and the green lizard flinched and said, "And right now, I'd better go do some dodgerin'." Then he scampered away.

"I'll find this new Duck, my lord," Siege assured. "And then we'll rip the feathers off of her."

"See that you do," Dragunus growled. "Because I will not have another feathered pest making things harder for my plans."

With his two other flunkies gone, Dragunus sat back down on his slightly broken throne and tried his very hardest to calm himself down. "Enjoy your new friend now, Ducks, because you won't have her for long."

* * *

Early the next morning at the Pond, Twyla awoke and was startled to find herself in a new bedroom.

"Huh? Where...?" Then she remembered all that'd happened yesterday. "I can't believe I actually found Canard's team..." She looked down at her lap in sadness. She indeed found Canard's team...but not Canard...

"I still can't believe he's trapped in limbo, either..." she murmured, lying back down in her pillows. She told herself again that there was a chance he was still alive and she hoped to Heaven it was true until they can get the Dimensional Portal.

She looked at the time on her phone and saw it was 6:45. "Whoa, that's early." She wondered what to do. Then she remembered the special shepherd she wanted to tell the Ducks about. Without another second to think, she got up, made her bed, and pulled out her Bible. "I know everyone I met on Puck World believed...but I do hope that my new friends can believe, too."

* * *

It was 7:30 and everyone had awoken up and were having breakfast. Wildwing, seeing the empty 7th seat he set up for Twyla, noticed she wasn't present. "Anyone seen Twyla?" Wildwing asked.

"She might be still asleep," Duke guessed.

"Hang on, I'll go get her," Wildwing said, getting up and headed for Twyla's room.

When he came to her door and knocked, she called, "Who is it?"

"It's me Wildwing," he replied. "Breakfast is ready and everyone is waiting for you."

"Oh, I didn't know it was breakfast time already. Hang on, I'll be there in a minute." Not a second later, she came out of her room to see the white drake. "Morning," she greeted with a wave.

"Morning," he waved back.

"Sorry I didn't come out 'til now," she apologized as she followed him to the mess hall, "I woke up early and I wanted to work on something."

"What was that?" he asked curiously.

She was quiet for a second, with a mysterious grin on her face. "Oh, you'll find out. You all will as soon as breakfast is over," she assured. "Let's just say you'll all be learning something very, very important, wonderful, and new about everything."

Wildwing blinked at her answer and wondered what on Earth she was talking about. He recalled her talking like this yesterday when she was about to tell them all about the strange shepherd before Phil came in and interrupted her. He asked himself if she'd talk to them about him again.

Then they reached the mess hall and met everyone at the table. "Hey, guys," Twyla greeted. "Hope I didn't make you all wait too long."

"Nah, not really," Duke assured her, motioning an empty seat next to him. "We thought that maybe you were asleep since you were tired from yesterday."

"Actually, I woke up at a quarter to seven," she corrected. "Every since I joined the Resistance, I've gotten used to waking up early."

"So what were you doing during that time?" Mallory asked.

"I've been working on something," she answered.

"And that is...?" Grin queried.

"Lessons."

"Lessons?" Nosedive repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Twyla nodded.

"Lessons about what, exactly?" Tanya asked.

"About life," she answered simply, "The importance of life that none of you knew nor anyone on Puck World knew before I showed up."

"Apparently," Wildwing began to explain as he sat down next to her, "she wants to teach us something very important and new about everything."

"And wonderful," Twyla finished.

"Like what?" Duke asked.

"I'll tell you once we're done eating," she told him. The Ducks looked at each other, all confused and curious about what she was talking about. Twyla couldn't help but smile, excited about telling them all about the things they never knew on Puck World.

As soon as breakfast was over and done with, Twyla asked them all to wait in the living room so she could go and get the stuff she needed to explain what she was saying a while ago. When she came back, they noticed the iPod in her hand and a yellow book held close to her in her arm.

She sat down and showed them the picture of the shepherd on her iPod. "I couldn't tell you about him since Phil came in yesterday," she started, "but now that we have time, I'm going to tell you everything. His name is Jesus Christ. As I've told you yesterday, he is like a shepherd who brings people together like a flock by giving them a message about how to have eternal life...by trusting, loving and obeying him and his Father whom I'm going to tell you about first before I explain to you about Jesus.

"The Father's name is God. He is the One who was around before time or any sign of life ever existed, when everything was dark and empty. He is he Creator of worlds that exist now. We never knew there were other worlds, but we did know that He made Earth after He made Heaven.

"Now I know you all find this hard to believe so far," she told them with a rather firm look yet gentle look, her hand on her heart, "but everything I'm saying and will be saying, I promise, is all true. And I ask that all questions should wait until I am done explaining everything." Without waiting for a response, she went on, telling them how this Being named God made Earth in just seven days, how He brought forth light; made the oceans and dry land; the plants, trees, and flowers; the sun to shine in the day and the moon to shine at night; the fish, birds, and animals to populate the world; and the last thing he made were humans beings, a man named Adam and a woman named Eve who were put in charge to take care of the world and its animals and plans and have children to follow in their footsteps.

They lived in a peaceful Garden of Eden that was like paradise and they were allowed to eat whatever kind of fruit they wanted in that garden, but were not allowed to eat from the tree that would teach them the knowledge of good and evil. Unfortunately, Eve was deceived by a dark being that possessed a snake to eat a fruit from that forbidden tree, telling her she and Adam would be as wise as God.

She ate one and she got Adam to eat one as well, but because they disobeyed God, they felt ashamed and when God came to them, just like He would every evening to talk to them about how they were doing, He was very sad that they'd broken their promise obey His word and told them they could never live in the Garden of Eden again and that life would be very difficult for them all now.

Twyla told them that all God wanted was to see His creations happy and for them to be happy, they needed to obey Him because He knew what was best for them. She then told them the story of the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and how Cain would be farmer and grow fine crops and how Abel was a very good shepherd and took excellent care of his sheep. She said that when Abel's gift that was a healthy lamb was accepted and not Cain's gift that was a ripe corn, Cain was bitterly jealous and filled with hatred towards his younger brother and one day, took him away somewhere with no eye witnesses and killed the poor boy.

However, God knew of the murder Cain committed and made him a wanderer, even though He promised to protect him in all the days of his life. Sadly, Cain's murder was just the beginning of wickedness of the Earth that'd been spoiled by people's horrible deeds and God knew that something had to be done: He would have to flood the world and start all over.

Fortunately, there was one man and his family that still loved and obeyed God and that man's name was Noah and He ordered Noah to build a giant ark for his family and two of every kind of animal so they would all be safe from the flood and repopulate the world. Once Noah and his family's work was done, everyone and the animals got inside and after a week of rain later, the ark was lifted up from the ground and was afloat.

For six long weeks, the flood washed away all the evil people and covered the entire world of water, but God made sure Noah and his family were safe. Finally, the rain stopped and after some time of waiting, Noah sent a dove to the outside world and she brought back to her master an olive branch that showed the world was dry again.

God asked them all to come out of the ark for them to see that the flood was over and Noah and his family were all happy to be out and about again, the animals scampering happily and the birds singing in the sky. God then made a promise to Noah and his family that whenever a rain would stop, He would send a rainbow in the sky, that would tell them all that God would never destroy living things again.

Twyla then told them about the Law of Ten Commandments that was made by God and asked a great leader named Moses, whom she would explain to them all later, to tell them to his people, so that they could learn and understand to love God and each other and take care of themselves and look after everyone. A lot of people promised to obey God's laws, but sadly, many people over the years didn't keep their end of the covenant, which means agreement, even though God always kept His.

Many centuries later, good people have come in the name of God and helped others turn back to God, but many people were still doing bad deeds. Then a prophet told them all of a King God would send to the world, to meet and explain to them all about God's love and kindness by doing wonderful and amazing things through God.

She explained that that King's name was Jesus and how he was born through an Earthly mother, Mary, a woman who before she was even married to a good man named Joseph. An angel told Mary that her son would be God's Son and the wonderful destiny he was going to have and the many good things he was going to do for the world.

Joseph learned of this from God and he was happy and willing to take care of his new wife Mary when she was pregnant and how baby Jesus was born in a small stable in Bethlehem. That night, three shepherds were visited by an angel who told them of God's Prince's birth and they followed a very bright star in the sky that led them to the special baby boy in a house away from the stable, compliments of his father Joseph's occupation as a carpenter that got them a better home, and the three traveling men presented him with unique gifts that amazed his mother: Gold, frankincense that was a sweet-smelling incense, and myrrh which was a fragrant spice.

Even though Jesus was just a baby at that time, the three shepherds new that he was greater than any king in the world and were joyful to have seen him with their own eyes. Twyla told them how a wicked king in Jerusalem named Herod heard of a prophecy that foretold of a special king like Jesus and knew he was born. He'd ordered soldiers to go to Bethlehem and kill any newborn boy between under three, thinking he'd stop the prophecy, but an angel warned Joseph of the arriving massacre and told him to get his wife and son to Egypt where'd they be safe.

A while after the horrible raid Herod sent, the king died, but his son Archelaus who was as wicked as his father, ruled, but ruled the southern part of the country, so Joseph took his family to the north of Nazareth. Jesus grew up and finally, the time came for him to be on his way to do what God needed him to do: To find 12 disciples who'd follow him and help spread the news of Jesus, the Messiah who'd show God's love and wonderfulness to the world.

Jesus did many wondeful things by bringing back blind people's sight; helping the cripple to walk; cure people's illnesses; save people from being taken over by evil spirits; and even bring people who died back to life. People who saw this were awed by Jesus and loved him very much and listened to what they needed to know about God, that they needed to change their ways and come back to God and not go on doing things their way.

Jesus did many other wonderful things, too, like one night in a storm on Lake Galilee, he commanded the raging winds and waves to seize and desist and was obeyed. He also provided an enormous picnic for thousands of people with multiplying two fish and five rolls of bread that were given from a good little boy. And he also walked on water to help his friend disciples who were caught in a storm on a lake and Peter the rock was asked by Jesus to believe in him and walk on the water, too, and so he did!

He also knew what'd happened in other people's lives before they even told him about themselves and he helped them understand important lessons of God's goodness and kindness through stories and told many people who'd committed so many wrong doings that they were forgiven and their feelings of guilt went away and gave them new peace. He also explained to them that people who may seem insignificant are actually more important than others thought. He told them that helping and forgiving everyone, even the meanest and most cold-hearted people was important because it was wrong to hate someone. God wanted selflessness and kindness, love and forgiveness, humility and self-control for everyone in the world and Jesus was helping them to understand that.

Jesus was truly a Messiah sent by God, but one day he told his disciples of God's plan for Jesus and how he was going to do it. He had to go to Jerusalem where he'd be captured and cruelly put to death. His disciples were in despair, but he told them gently that it isn't God's plan to make His Son Jesus suffer for any wrong that he never did, but to die for everyone's sins in the world, and be brought back to life in three days so everyone could be saved from evil. That was God's wonderful plan to bring His people out of the darkness and Jesus was more than willing to do it.

Though Jesus was sad to have to part away from his disciples who'd become his dearest friends, he did spend a good evening with them, teaching them a new way to spend a Passover meal, which was created by Moses a long time ago, but Jesus came up with a new tradition. To eat bread that stands for Jesus's body which was going to be given to them all and to drink grape juice that stands for his blood that will be the seal of God's new covenant, which he was going to make with people of every nation.

What Jesus also knew that his other eleven disciples didn't was that his twelve disciple Judas Iscariot was going to betray Jesus and give him to his enemies because he was angry that instead of being anointed king like any other regular king would, Jesus was going to die and Judas had set his heart out on working for a king that would provide him with enough money he could ever want. So he found his master's enemies the Jewish Council and told them of the time and place where they would find Jesus and was given silver pieces in return.

After supper, Jesus and his friends went to the slopes of Mount of Olives early and laid in a quiet garden called Gethsemane where Jesus thought and prayed for he knew he was going to be arrested. Suddenly, he woke up Peter, John, and James who were with him, and he ordered them to leave him and told them Judas had betrayed him and was leading an armed guard. Jesus went with them willingly because God's plan was going accordingly.

Judas then felt ashamed for the terrible thing that he did to the master who'd been good to him and loved him despite knowing his deed and Judas was never seen again. Peter and John followed Jesus secretly to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. John went closer to see what was going on with Jesus's trial.

Peter was then told by people he knew Jesus and was afraid to get attention since he tried to rescue Jesus by attacking a guard, but was ordered to stop by his good master and he told those people three times he didn't know Jesus and right there and then he felt bitterly ashamed for saying so and ran away in tears.

Twyla explained why the Jewish Council wanted Jesus put on trial was because they felt he shouldn't be telling non-Jews about God because they felt like they were God's chosen people and no one else deserved to know about God. Not to mention, they were jealous of Jesus for doing such amazing things and for telling the Jews they needed just as much saving from evil as many other poor souls whom several listened and followed Jesus's advice about God.

The Jewish Council tried to frame Jesus that would give him the death penalty, but Pilate, the Roman governor knew why they wanted him dead and knew Jesus did nothing wrong and he was innocent. However, even though he tried so hard to convince everyone Jesus didn't deserve to die, a mob outside in the streets chanted 'Crucify!' over and over again. Pilate told them that Jesus was completely innocent, but they didn't listen to him. They didn't like Jesus's teachings of God, either, and wanted him silenced.

Pilate, then, since it was Passover time, he would set free a prisoner and he gave the people two choices: Jesus or Barabbas, who was a mob leader and in prison for murder. To his shock, they wanted Barabbas and the Roman governor decided to give in to their wishes and ordered for Jesus to be whipped many times and crucified on a cross and die in the heat on a hill called Golgotha, which means Skull Place.

Jesus was terribly wounded by the whips that were made from leather strips weighted with pieces of metal and when he was forced to walk to the hill with a wooden cross on his shoulders, people mocked him for calling himself a king when he couldn't even save himself. One Roman soldier made an imitation crown from sharp-speared thorn twigs and rammed it through his head and other soldiers in dyed royal purple robes and they laughed at Jesus who was struggling to get his crossed beam to the hill.

An African Jew named Simon was ordered to help Jesus get his beam to the hill because Jesus was so hurt from his injuries that he could barely walk. Then, then they got to Skull Place, Jesus was nailed to the cross and was put in the center of the hill with other prisoners on each side of him. The two didn't think Jesus deserved this punishment like they did, but he told them that they would join them in his kingdom with his Father in Heaven that day.

As the day got hotter and many people came to see their very good teacher and friend dying, they were very, very sad and Jesus asked his friend John to take care of his mother and told Mary that John would be his new son now. At noon, which was normally the time when the day would be at its brightest, the sky grew thick and dark as if it was nighttime and for three hours, Jesus suffered all alone, carrying the world's sins.

Then at three o' clock, Jesus called in a clear triumphant voice, "Finished!" and then he gave up his life and died. A man named Joseph of Arimathea and another named Nicodemus who met Jesus of how he could be gain eternal life, came to give Jesus a proper burial and after wrapping his body, they put it in a cave tomb in Joseph's garden.

Many people would come and pay their respects and mourned for Jesus and were all heartbroken at the thought he'd never be king and bring peace and justice to the world, but on the third day of his death, Mary Magdalene and other women made their way to the tomb and saw with horror that the entrance to the cave door was open and they were afraid someone had disturbed Jesus's resting place.

They told Peter and John and they looked inside the tomb to see in shock that the body of their beloved had disappeared, but when Mary came in alone, she heard a voice from behind her that asked her why she was crying and she new whose voice that was. With new tears of joy, she came outside and told everyone outside that Jesus was alive and resurrected just as God had promised and everyone was overjoyed and Jesus's disciples met Jesus again at the lake, though he was not a ghost, his body was different since he could go through walls and such, but he was there and he asked them all to spread news of Jesus to everyone in the world because Jesus is the way to Heaven and God. Anyone who learns and accepts Jesus in their hearts could be saved and brought to Heaven on day to be with God.

The disciples then received Jesus's Holy Spirit who would be their friends and help and encourage them to believe in Jesus, God, and everything that was good and right. The disciples felt a brand new joy and peace and shared the news to anyone they met and they, too, received Jesus's Holy Spirit.

Many people who were once bad and heard of Jesus and his doings to bring them to God changed their ways and devoted their lives to teach everyone the Way of Jesus and named them into Christians who found new lives of peace and wisdom and kept Jesus's teachings in their minds and hearts.

"So, then, any questions?" Twyla asked, leaning back on her seat with her hands behind her head, "Comments? Opinions? Be honest." They were all silent, and she gave them a minute to take all of this in. "Please, not all at once," she asked sarcastically. "Do any of you...even believe what I've been saying?"

She waited a moment which was kind of suspenseful for her and Wildwing was the first to speak up. "So...he died so everyone could be saved?"

"Yes. Now I know it's...unusual and it's sad that he suffered like that, but he suffered for everyone, to take away their sins. His blood was his gift to everyone, like I told you. It's God's new covenant to every nation. Because God wanted to give people another chance to change and follow Him because even though His creations disappointed Him many times, He still loved them and Jesus loved everyone, too. To this day, Jesus still shows himself to people all over the world so they can understand the Way, that _he_ is the Way and those who knew Jesus and God well made churches to come and learn and worship God.

"However, I, myself don't go to church, but that doesn't mean a person like me can't learn about God from other sources. In fact, my grandmother was the one who told me all about Him and she gave me this Bible to help me learn and understand what God wants and what Jesus did long ago and what he is still doing today. That's how I became a Christian...along with everyone in Puck World."

"Wait, everyone in Puck World are Christians, too?" Duke asked.

"You mean you taught them?" Mallory questioned.

"Yep," she answered, looking at the Bible that told them all she was looking back to the day she was teaching their people about the Way. "Canard, Suzette, and Dr. Beakin were the first three...and when I came to meet the others after Bryan found me, I taught them all about Way, too, and I read to them stories from this Bible. I told them that they could find new peace by trusting Jesus and helped them talk to God in prayer... And when they told God of the wrongs that they did and apologized and asked for His guidance and asked Jesus to come inside their hearts, they all felt better about...everything. They didn't feel as afraid and faithless anymore. They praised the Lord with me every night and prayed that someday they would get their home world back."

Twyla smiled when she remembered the joyful and peaceful looks on their faces and saw the tears that came from their eyes, but she knew they were forgiven and became sons and daughters of God and her new brothers and sisters in the Way of Jesus Christ.

"So that's what you meant when you said they found new faith," Wildwing murmured, "because of what you told them about God..."

"Mm-hmm," she nodded, "before I met them, most of them were in despair and were afraid of losing their homes to the Saurians...until they found new courage and hope that helped them see that those who serve the Lord in Heaven would not be forgotten and left to suffer for very long. I told them that even though pain lasts for a while, the people in these stories went through pains that lasted for a very long time, but were rescued by God's love. And I also reminded them that once Puck World had a hero who saved their world, they now have new heroes who'll save their world, too.

"Now I want to help you all be saved, too, by my savior Jesus. I know it's all hard to believe, but I'm telling you again, everything I said is very true. God and Jesus are very real and your people believe in them. If they can believe, can't you all as well?"

They were all silent and looked at each other, not knowing what to say, but Wildwing stood up and walked up to Twyla and asked in a clear voice, "Please teach me."

His teammates blinked in surprise that he'd ask so straight forwardly. Twyla nodded, happy to see that like his best friend Canard, he was willing to learn about Christ and the Heavenly Father. "Okay, I'll get us started and then you speak to God and give him your prayer and ask Jesus to come into your heart." Wildwing nodded obediently and when she offered her hand, he took it and gently gripped it. He honestly didn't know how he was easily believing this...but something about what Twyla was saying did sound true.

Twyla closed her eyes and said, "God, this is Twyla. I'm coming to You with a new friend whom I met on Earth. He's from Puck World and he's the leader of the small Resistance here that made it to this world. I've told him and his friends all about You and he would like to accept Jesus in his heart and follow You. He's new at this, but I know You will listen to him and understand his prayer." She opened her eyes to Wildwing and said, "Now you speak."

Wildwing cleared his throat and with his grip still on Twyla's hand, he closed his eyes and said, "God, this is Wildwing. I've listened to Twyla telling my friends and me about You and why You sent Jesus to save everyone. Honestly, it's all strange to me...and yet I don't seem to doubt You...at all. I know we've never heard of You before Twyla came, but I wish we knew a long time ago that we all did... And, Jesus, from what we've heard...you definitely seem like a hero greater than Drake DuCaine. You never played hockey or needed some Mask...and you didn't need to go into any battles at all. You did things peacefully and went through so much because you wanted to do what was best...which reminds me of what a friend of mine did for us before we came to Earth. If Canard has accepted you and your Holy Spirit is with him, then I hope he'll know from your Spirit that we'll come for him before he knows it... And I'd like to accept your Holy Spirit inside me, too."

With barely a second, Wildwing felt something like a rushing wind and gasped for breath.

"Whoa, bro, you okay?" Dive asked concernedly.

"I..." Wing panted, "I don't know... I feel...completely different."

"Unusual yet good different?" Twyla queried with a grin.

"Well, yes it is unusual...but..." he stopped panting and blinked at her. "I do feel really, really good."

Twyla smiled. It never got old to see a new friend of hers accepting Jesus's Holy Spirit and feel a totally new sensation. "That's how it's supposed to feel." She turned to his teammates and asked with an offering hand, "Now do you see what I am talking about? He has the Holy Spirit inside of him... He's a believer now and a new member of the family of Christ How'd you all like to be believers and God's children, too?"

The Ducks looked at each other with new curious looks, amazed at how Wildwing was acting. Twyla stood up and walked to Mallory. "When I told your father about this, he wasn't sure at first, but I insisted that he opened his heart...and when he did, he said he never felt so much better in all his years..." With a warm smile, she added, "And he hoped for his daughter to have this same sort of feeling, too."

Mallory looked at her for a minute, then looked down in thought. Her dad always had a good judgment. He believed Twyla could be a good commando and she was, so far. But if he and Wildwing believe in something like this... Mallory looked up at her again and nodded. "Okay."

Twyla nodded back and took her hand. "God, I've come to You with Mallory now. She's the daughter of my teacher Admiral McMallard whom You know accepted Jesus and follows You. Mallory trusts her father, now she'd like to see You as her Heavenly Father." To Mallory, she said, "Now you speak to Him."

"Um, Sir, if I can call You that," she started, her eyes closed, "Normally, I'd find this all hard to believe, but after seeing what's happened to Wildwing just now, I think I do..." She was quiet for a moment until she said, sounding a little regretful, "And...well, for me, Lord, it's hard for me to forgive someone who's done wrong in the past, but Twyla insists that we should learn to forgive and forget because we shouldn't be holding a grudge for very long. If it's true...then, Jesus, I'd like you to help me learn to forgive a person's wrong doings... And help me see pay attention to their right doings more."

Then Mallory gasped, feeling something like a rushing wind just like Wing did. She panted as if she were running a marathon and out of breath. She shook for a moment and opened her eyes, looking like she was going to cry.

"Mallory, you okay?" Duke asked, seeing the tear forming in her eye.

"Y-yeah," she stammered, still breathing, "I...I..."

"You found a new peace," Twyla finished, standing up to look down at the red-head Duck. "Because you asked Jesus to help you, you've accepted his Holy Spirit and now you feel a whole lot better. Now you can see people differently."

Mallory was quiet and didn't know what to say when a single tear came off her eye. Twyla thought it was best to leave her be to take all of this in. She turned to Duke now whom she knew was going to feel hesitant to talk to someone like God giving his being a former jewel thief, but she wanted to help him see God would accept him regardless.

"What say you, Duke?" she asked with an inviting smile and an extending hand, "Would you like to feel this sensational peace, too?"

Duke looked at her hand and felt very unsure. He honestly didn't feel like he deserved this sort of thing. Twyla looked into his eyes and she could see the doubt inside him. "I know you think you shouldn't," she told him gently, "but don't let guilt hold you back from this. Like I explained earlier, there are criminals whom I've read about in the Bible and when Jesus came to them, they threw away their pasts and became Christians themselves, helping spread his name and purpose to anyone they can find. I know Jesus didn't come to you when the Saurians invaded, but you changed yourself when you saw how much people were suffering. You grew a conscience and started helping take care of others. You are a good person now, but I can introduce you to someone who can make you feel better about your past. Please, trust me, and trust Jesus and God, too, and let God know you're sorry."

He blinked at how old and wise she sounded for someone who looked so young, as if she was more experienced than he was...yet he wondered if this was why she didn't judge him of his past at all... He could also see how promising her expression was, so with a deep breath, he said, "All right," and took her hand and closed his eyes.

Twyla, with her eyes closed, started off first and spoke, "Heavenly Father, I bring another friend of mine named Duke. You know all things and You know his past, Lord, but You also know that he left that past behind because he saw how much people were hurting from the evil lizards cruelty and went to help those in need. Although he's turned out much better than before, he still has regrets, but he should know that people like him and other people with worst pasts can be forgiven and he'd like to apologize to You, Lord." She opened her eyes and said to Duke, "All right, Duke, just tell God you're sorry."

At first he didn't know what to say, but she assured him, "It's okay, Duke, God is listening. He is always listening no matter where you are."

He took a deeper breath of new confidence and said in a clear voice, "God, I've committed many crimes in my life...and even after I turned my old life away, I can still remember clearly from all the wrongs I did." He shook a bit at first, and Twyla gripped his hand for him to continue. "And I regret everything single one of them. All I did was cause trouble and grief...but I want to apologize for my crimes." His good eye released a tear and his sound of cracked a little when he continued, "I'm really sorry."

Twyla patted his shoulder in sympathy. "God forgives you," she told him softly. "When you're really sorry for what you've done wrong, He'll always forgive you." Duke opened his eyes for a moment and he did feel like a big weight has been lifted off his shoulders, the weight known as guilt that'd often haunted him, but now...now it didn't feel as heavy anymore.

Twyla could tell what he was feeling and smiled at that, but there was still one more thing he had to do. "Now let's talk to Jesus, too. He forgives people's sins, too, you know."

Duke nodded slowly and closed his eyes again. "Jesus, from what I've heard, you help bring the good out of the bad and even though I changed my ways, I still have a lot I need to do to make up for them. I ask for your Holy Spirit to give me enough strength to help my friends stop the Saurians forever and...the courage to face everyone on Puck World and apologize to them for all that I've done."

Then Duke gasped for breath and felt the life-restoring wind-like feeling inside him, too. He felt lighter, stronger, and...a bit younger, too, like he was Nosedive's age with a lot of energy.

Twyla smiled and let go of his hand and patted his back, congratulating him for admitting his mistakes to God. Next she went to Tanya. She was afraid she might not believe since she was a scientists and most scientists were too stubborn and matter-o-factly about things, but if she could get her teacher Dr. Beakin who didn't have a hard time believing, then his prized student would probably believe easily, too, especially after seeing what's happening to her teammates.

"Okay, Tanya, would you like to learn the Way?" she asked, extending a hand. "I know this is all hard to take in, but Dr. Beakin believes, too, because after seeing a person like me from another world, he started believing in the impossible and that there are some things we can't explain with science."

Tanya took a glance and Duke, Mal, and Wing who were still quiet after looking like they received this Holy Spirit. If they could act like that, then maybe... "Well, if they can feel something like this, then I think I can, too," she replied, taking her hand. "Besides, I've seen enough crazy things to believe in the impossible."

Twyla was glad to hear that and closed her eyes. "Heavenly Father, I have another friend. Her name is Tanya and she's a favorite student of another Duck scientist friend Dr. Beakin. She's seen a lot of strange things in her life, but she's never heard of someone like You or Jesus. She's seen how her three friends have responded after speaking to you and she likes to believe in someone as wonderful as You."

The blonde female Duck didn't know what to say at first, then finally she said, "Uh, God, uh, hi. If You're someone who knows all things, then You know all of the weird things I've seen and heard, but I've never heard of anyone like You or Jesus and neither have the rest of us on Puck World. But Twyla says that everyone at home believes in You and Jesus, including my favorite teacher Dr. Beakin. Lord, if someone I know and respect trusts in You, then I'd like to believe, too. And, Jesus, from what I've heard, you do seem like a very good person to go through many hardships for the sake of everyone in the world. Normally, a scientist like me wouldn't believe or, you know, so much understand these kind of things, but honestly, I'd really like get to know you and understand life better without needing science all the time."

Then, she also gasped for breath, and she felt like something went away. All her doubts vanishing in less than a second. She'd always been smart, but she felt like she didn't come close to know anything until know.

Twyla smiled that her friend Dr. Beakin's student believed this easily and then left her be and turned her attention to the biggest member of the team Grin. Suzette told her of how he'd believe in spiritual living. How he believes in peace and honor, but today, she was going to help give him a better understanding.

"You willing to learn the Way, my big friend?" she asked, reaching her hand to him.

Grin, well, grinned, and nodded gently taking her small hand in his big one. "You don't have to ask."

Twyla smiled at his response and closed her eyes. "Father, I have another friend Grin who is the cousin of another friend Suzette. He's the kind of person who'd believe in the impossible without a second thought and after he's heard about You, he's more than ready to follow You and trust You."

Grin, with closed eyes, spoke, "God, I've always thought I knew all about spiritual living, but after what I heard today, I realize I didn't even know the real spiritual living until now. I've seen what believing in You has already done for my friends and seeing the kind of goodness Twyla has, I can definitely see You really are the true God." Twyla smiled as he continued, "And, Jesus Christ, from the many good things I've heard, you truly are a very good soul and I ask for your Holy Spirit...and I ask that you help keep my cousin Suzette safe along with everyone else on Puck World."

Like his four friends, Grin also felt the rushing feeling inside him and gasped for breath. He felt entirely different, like he was given a whole new kind of strength.

Twyla smiled at yet another believer and turned to last but not least young Nosedive. She extended her hand to him and said, "Now I know Jesus is not Drake DuCaine...but not all heroes have to be someone with weapons and special technology, you know."

The young drake seemed unsure at first, but looking at everyone else, it just...had to be true. Hey, Mallory, the toughest Duck he ever knew, was shedding a tear, and Duke was practically cracking up with guilt when he apologized for his crimes. If talking to a hero like Jesus can make his friends feel like that, then...

"Besides, you believed Drake DuCaine existed when a lot of people thought he was just a myth, but they were wrong, weren't they?" she queried. She heard from Canard how Wing's little bro would believe in a great hero like Drake regardless of other's doubts.

Nosedive knew she had a point right there. "Okay, then," he nodded, taking her hand, "Start us off, girlfriend."

Twyla nodded and closed her eyes. "God, this is another friend who's the little brother of Wildwing, Nosedive. He's heard of a great hero like Drake DuCaine who saved Puck World many, many years ago, but he's heard a hero even greater than him. A hero whom You've sent to come into the world to show them all about Your love and mercy. Now my young friend here would know about all about that and understand You more."

She was quiet and Dive knew he must say his own words to the Heavenly Lord. "Oh, uh, God, well, like my big bro and friends, I'm new at this, too, but Twyla says You're someone who cares about everyone enough to send Jesus to give his life to save everyone. If You're as good as she says You are, then I'd like to follow You and learn more about You, too. And, Jesus, I know you're not Drake DuCaine, but from what Twyla said, you are someone who's just as cool. And I'd like to see you as a hero, too."

Like all of his friends, Dive felt a rushing healing force inside of him, too, making him gasp as if he came out of the water to get some air. Twyla stood up bringing everyone together in a circle. She smiled warmly at them all and announced, "My feathered friends, welcome to the family of Christ. From now on, like the others on Puck World, you're all sons and daughters of God." She closed her eyes and spoke to God. "Lord, now that my friends have accepted You as their God, please help give them the new kind courage and strength and wisdom they need, and most importantly, the hope of stopping the Saurians and getting the Dimensional Portal. And we pray, Lord, that Canard is alive in Dimensional Limbo and that You keep him alive and well until we rescue him, and we hope that You help everyone on Puck World stay strong and faithful until we return to them soon. Amen." She opened her eyes and explained, "Whenever you're done saying a prayer, that's when you say amen. They save that two or more on Earth or in any other world agree, then the prayer is stronger."

The Mighty Ducks looked at each other and nodded, dipping their heads and said in unison, "Amen."

Twyla looked with pride and happiness for her friends accepting Jesus in their hearts, just as her friends on Puck World did. Not only would they feel stronger, braver, and wiser, but that meant that someday, they would find a place in Heaven, and that was something she loved very much. She'd only known them for a short time and though she still missed Canard and the others on Puck World, she could feel a good friendship she was going to have with these guys.

* * *

After that long discussion of God and introducing them to Jesus, Twyla decided to leave them be and let them take in all that'd happened. Accepting Jesus was a brand new and wonderful thing and she knew they needed time alone for a bit.

As she walked down the hall, she heard someone following her and turned to see Wildwing behind her. "Well, hello," she greeted with a smile and a hand on her hip, her Bible and iPod in the other. "What can I do for ya?"

"Um, I..." he stammered, scratching his head to find the right words to say. "I just want to say..." He looked directly at her in the eyes and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you...very much. We...never felt so...good in our lives. We almost lost hope when the Saurians' disappearance meant we couldn't get the portal, just like we almost lost hope when our world was invaded... But when you told us about God and what Jesus did for Earth... We don't feel hopeless anymore."

Twyla smiled and put her hand on his. "Well, don't thank me, really. Thank God and Jesus. They're the ones who are making you all feel things differently. I just pointed you guys to the right Ones."

"Yeah, but we couldn't have found Them if you hadn't come," Wing told her.

"Well, you would've heard it from anyone else on Earth," she replied, "but I am honored to have been the one to tell you all myself." With a wave, she bid him a farewell and went into her room.

She put down her Bible and brushed her fingers on the cover. "I was really doing what any other believer would've done," she murmured, "Spreading the word."

She wished she knew why the Saurians took her and why they hurt her, but a part of her felt grateful she could come to a world that needed to find hope and courage through Christ. But for her new friends here, she'd only begun to teach them all about God and His loving nature and she had the right book to do it.

"Canard, if you can hear me, then I just want to say I'm very sorry for breaking my promise to you about leaving the tower...but if you knew what I'd done, then you'd see that it really was the right time to help everyone...in more ways than one."

She hoped Canard would understand her reasons...but more than anything, she hoped he was still all right. He was her friend Puck World friend and believer. And even though she was happy to have him as her brother in Christ, she still saw him as a brother who'd been a good friend and company to her as well as Suzette and Dr. Beakin.

"And we will find you, my friend," she vowed, "God willing. Until then, stay safe and don't give up hope."

* * *

(Well, what did y'all think? I know this chapter was very...long, but I hope it was easy to understand. Until the next chapter, God bless.)


	6. Heartfelt Memories

**Chapter 6: Heartfelt Memories**

Twyla stayed in her bedroom that late morning after teaching her friends of the Way, and she was looking at her pictures of her Earth. She still couldn't understand that there were two Earths. What in this or any world did that mean?

She shrugged, telling herself that she was here now and that the Saurains were here, too, and they had to be stopped before they could bring this world to ruin just like Puck World. She wondered where those lizards were, anyway.

Feeling a little bored, Twyla decided to leave her bedroom and checked out the work-out room. At first she wondered what to do since this was the first time she was going to use anything in here. She wanted to ask maybe Tanya or Mallory how, but she figured now wasn't the time to talk to them or the boys after what she'd told them, so she thought it was best to just do her stretches first.

As she flexed her arms and legs and bent her waist, she remembered when Admiral McMallard started training her in a place like this...

* * *

_The admiral was alone with Twyla in a training room, teaching her how to shoot with her puck blaster and how to work rocket-like roller blades while doing it. She managed to get the hang of the skating, but it was hard to shoot a decent target while she was moving so fast._

_She tried so hard and made only one or two good hits on boarded Drone targets on every round. She was feeling irritated with her slow progress, but she didn't complain to the admiral and did what she was told._

_Of course, the admiral could see how upset she was with her lack of shooting and stopped her. "Soldier," he said to her, walking towards her._

_"Yes, sir?" she asked, standing up straight._

_"You seem to be quite frustrated," he observed._

_"Y-yes, sir," she admitted, not looking at him in the eye._

_"I know this is new to you," he told her as if he was teaching his child how to ride a bike, "but practice makes perfect. Nobody should expect to be amazingly talented the first day."_

_As he spoke to her while circling her, Twyla looked at the ground, looking unsure. It wasn't just shooting bad targets she was having a hard time with. It was her lack of speed of running through obstacle courses and the trouble of not bumping or crashing into anything. Honestly, she didn't know what the admiral saw in her that made her a commando. She was just an uncoordinated slowpoke._

_The admiral saw this and stood in front of her, getting her full attention. "It's hard, yes, but you knew it wasn't going to be easy, right?"_

_She nodded and so far, it wasn't easy at all._

_"Well, it's not going to get easy, but with the time and effort, you'll get this stuff right. A lot of people who before became professionals had difficult times with this. In fact, I did when I was your age."_

_Twyla blinked in surprise to hear that her experienced teacher had a hard time with this sort of thing, too._

_"That's right," he nodded as if he could read her thoughts, "At first, I thought I was never going to get it...but I told myself over and over why I wanted to do this: To fight for what's right for my friends, my country, and my family. Those reasons are what kept me going and helped me get better. Now look at me, I'm an admiral. And if I can pull through with my training, you can, too._

_"And let me ask you something: Why is it you agreed to do this?" he questioned._

_Twyla thought about how that little boy she saved from that Drone was nearly killed had she not ran to get him on time and she said in a clear voice, "Because I want to help protect others."_

_The admiral grinned and nodded approvingly. "Then all the more reason to keep trying, right?"_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"So, are you going to try again?"_

_"Yes, sir," she replied a little more determinedly._

_"Then try again, soldier."_

_Twyla nodded with a salute and started over. This time, she took a second to rethink what she was doing with her shots. She told herself not wait too long until she was in range and keep her eyes locked on the target._

_When the admiral gave the order, she skated through the coarse and at her first wooden target, she locked on it and shot a bull's eyes. She would've liked to cheer, but she kept her attention on the coarse as she repeated what she'd done with the first boarded Drones and shot all of them down._

_The admiral smiled with pride with folded arms when she came to the finish line. "Sir, did you see that?" she asked, filled with joy at her better progress._

_"I sure did, soldier," he replied stepping up to her, a hand on her shoulder. "You see what I was saying earlier?"_

_"I sure do," she nodded excitedly, "Thank you, sir." Realizing how giddy she was sounding, she straightened up and said in a calmer tone, "I mean, thank you, sir."_

_The admiral couldn't help grinning and petted her head. "I don't blame you for feeling that way," he sympathized, "As a matter of fact, seeing you acting like this reminds me of my daughter. You know, Mallory?"_

_"Oh, yes, you've told me about her," she nodded._

_"Mm-hmm, and she would also get excited for doing a good job at these things." His amused grin turned into a longing smile and he added, "To be honest, you do remind me of her a bit. Your hair is red, though it's longer and darker, and you're human, but you're just as determined and hard-working."_

_Twyla smirked, feeling flattered and honored to hear her teacher say she reminded him of his daughter whom she would like to meet someday..._

_The admiral cleared his throat and announced, "Well, we'd better keep practicing. Don't wanna rest while you're just getting the hang of it."_

_"Yes, sir," she replied, getting back on the starting line and kept up the good work, making better targets at each round... _

* * *

Twyla stopped doing her stretches and looked at the training room that looked better than the ones she was used to, though this one didn't feel like home just yet. She recalled how she'd go on practice teams on the courses and do well once they completed their tasks, congratulating and giving each other fives. Well, she'd give them fives and they'd give her fours. A little thing Twyla made up for humans and Ducks called a high four-five.

Yes, she missed training with them and going on missions with them and helping others break out of slave camps, getting them settled and comforted as best as they could, and teaching them the Way.

Twyla was really happy at how willing people were to listen to someone whom they never knew existed as well as amazed, but she didn't complain. Though she supposed if they can believe in humans like her from a planet like Earth, seeing the pictures from her iPod, then they could believe in God and Jesus, too.

To her surprise, the door opened and she turned to see the female red-head Duck Mallory herself.

"Oh, well, didn't expect to find you here," Mallory observed when she saw the human teammate.

"Yeah, I got kinda bored being in my room so I thought I'd come in here. However, I didn't know how to work this stuff and I didn't wan to teach anything I shouldn't without help. I was gonna get either you or Tanya because you're usually training hard and Tanya was the one who built this room, but after what I've told you all today, I decided to just do my stretch exercises instead."

"Well, you could've asked any one of us if you wanted..." Mal told her, but she stopped and asked, "Hang on, how'd you know I usually train hard?"

"Your dad," she answered, nudging with her elbow, "He told me how you'd work hard with this kind of stuff."

"He said that?" she asked.

"Yeah, he keeps telling me how hard you worked in military school. Guess it runs in the family, huh?"

The red-haired she-Duck grinned and looked away, "Yeah, but I don't think I can reach my dad's level."

"You could if you wanted to. He said you've always had potential."

Mallory couldn't help feeling flattered that her father would talk about so much to this girl and she was curious about something. "Say, exactly how was training with you, anyway?"

"Very, very hard," she replied. "I mean, I know it wasn't going to be easy at all, but I was just doing..." She groaned at the memory of her first days as a new recruit, embarrassing herself. "You see, I was never athletic before I joined, but your dad urged me to keep going at it and after time and effort, I made a break-through and did better and better."

"That's Dad for you," Mallory replied with a smile, "He was patient, but he was a serious teacher and he wouldn't quit on a student and wouldn't let them quit, either."

"Yeah, tough but fair," she agreed. "Say now that you're here, you think we can train together?"

"Sure," she replied, going to the controls. "Besides, I'd like to critique your training myself and see how well Dad taught you."

"Okay."

Mallory arranged for the coarse on Level 7 which was fair to Twyla. Both red-heads zoomed on their rocket-powered skates and shot down as many targets they could. They wondered if they should've kept score, but they were having fun and they both saw in amazement at each other at how well they were doing.

Finally, when they came to the finish line, they stopped to catch their breath. "Whoa, that's a work-out," Twyla breathed.

"Yeah," Mal agreed, "and I've gotta say, you weren't bad when you were shooting at those targets."

"Thanks," she grinned, "I've got your dad to thank for that. And you did pretty well yourself."

"Yeah, well, compliments of my dad, too," she shrugged. "He and I would practice shooting either at school or at home."

Twyla was quiet for a moment and said, "Sounds like fun. Father-daughter bonding." She re-loaded her Puck Launcher, not giving away to Mallory the frown on her face.

Mal thought for a moment and she remembered when Twyla said yesterday that she was living with her sister, mom, and grandma, but said nothing about her father. She wondered when she said father-daughter bonding, did that mean she was jealous or sad? What happened to her dad, anyway? But she knew better than to ask that in case it would've hurt her feelings, so she dropped it.

"Wanna go for more rounds?" Twyla asked, raising her P.L.

"Sure," Mallory nodded.

They shot targets for about ten minutes until Twyla leaned against the wall, slowly sitting down and panted deeply.

"Oh, come on, ten minutes and you're tired already?" Mallory teased, not breaking a sweat.

Twyla just shrugged with a smirk, still catching her breath.

Suddenly, a voice in the room said, "Well, this is nice." The red-heads turned to see Duke leaning on a wall next to the door. "Glad to see you girls are gettin' along all right."

"Hey, Duke," Twyla greeted with a wave. "Care to join us?"

"Nah, I'm just watchin'," he denied, "Gotta say, kid, you almost match Mallory here."

"Well, thanks for the compliment," Twyla replied, standing up.

"Matter of fact," Duke added, walking up to the two, "if it wasn't for the species difference, anyone would think you were twins... You know, red-heads, both trainin' hard."

Both girls looked at each other and smirked in agreement. "Yeah, I guess anyone would if we were the same species," Twyla thought. "Although, giving she looks like her age and I don't, they'd just think I'm her younger sister. And I do mean, _younger_," she affirmed, motioning her short and seemingly ageless body.

"Yeah, it does seem your looks defies time," Mallory nodded.

"Oh, well," she shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to look younger than your age."

"I'll say," Duke agreed, ruffling her hair. "By the time you're thirty, people will think you're either 25 or 24."

"My sentiments exactly," Twyla replied, straightening her hair.

"Say, Duke, you're the oldest, aren't you?" Mallory asked him. "Exactly, how old are you?"

"You don't need to know," Duke denied bluntly.

"Oh, come on, it's not like you're fifty," Mallory reasoned.

"No, in fact, I am a few good years away from it," Duke said gratefully, "but that doesn't mean I'm gonna tell ya. I don't ask you your age, do I?"

"If I tell you what my age is, will you tell me yours?"

"No," he answered straight forwardly, pointing to both girls, "I ain't tellin' you or her or anybody."

"Fine, Duke, don't tell us," Mallory said, acting she was accepting his standards. "Although, when your birthday comes, you're gonna have to tell us, then."

"No, I won't," he denied simply. "No age of mine will be told, not even on my birthday."

"Fine, then, we'll just guess how old you'll be and write it on your birthday cake," Mallory proclaimed. "Hmm...maybe we'll put in 48."

"Uh, excuse me, sweetheart," Duke said, leaning his arm on her shoulder, "but when I said a few good years away from fifty, I mean longer than two years, thank you."

"Fine, 47," she concluded with a smug.

"Can you believe this?" Duke asked Twyla, motioning his hands to Mal. Twyla just shrugged. "Whatever happened to respect your elders?"

"It takes more than an old age to get respect from me, L'Orange," Mallory told him stepping away from him, his arm dropping from her shoulder. "You've gotta work for it."

"Bein' with you this long and I've still haven't earned it yet?" Duke asked in almost disbelief.

"Oh, hey, I'm sure you'll get it if you work hard enough before your time is up," she assured, giving him a playful grin, "Grandpa."

"Oh, now, wait a minute," he argued, though he looked somewhat amused, "I may be the oldest one here, but I don't have the looks of a grandpa yet."

"No, but I bet it'll be soon," Mallory guessed, eyeing him with the grin still on her face.

"You just love startin' things with me, don't ya?" Duke asked, feeling annoyed yet still looked amused.

"Hey, it's better than the usual heated up arguments we usually have," Mallory stated with a shrug.

While they were...play fighting, she assumed, Twyla looked at them and she felt something going between them. Like a spark of... She grinned and quickly turned away and bid them farewell, leaving them be.

She decided to take a look around the Pond again and check her surroundings so she'd know her way around. She remembered the training room, so she checked for the weapons' arsenal and found her Drone vessel exactly where she left it yesterday.

She walked up to it and patted its arm. "You were a nightmare at first, but then you turned into a dream," she murmured. She remembered when she first went into the Drone army in this thing and felt utterly terrified if she'd been discovered. Then after she managed to escape from the army, she remembered flying into the sky between the sea where the Ducks had taken down the Raptor, to the woods where she had to land and fuel up which took days, and taking her vessel back in the skies again.

Honestly, when she had it flying again, she felt like she could travel the world in it as long as she had enough fuel to last her. Then she remembered discovering how this wasn't her world at all and found out this wasn't her time. That meant she couldn't see her family and friends yet...

_Oh, Father in Heaven, please help me return to them soon._

Suddenly, the door opened and in came Tanya who looked up in surprise to see Twyla in the room. "Well, didn't expect to find you in here," she observed.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to get to know my way around the Pond and I popped in here and thought I'd check up on this thing," Twyla explained, looking at her battle suit.

"I see," she understood, then looked at the thing, feeling uncomfortable. "Although, I never would've thought I'd see a Drone in here of all places."

"Yeah, let alone see one saving you all, huh?" Twyla queried.

"Nope, that's definitely we didn't expect," Tanya agreed. "Or seeing a human from a different using a Drone, either."

"Yeah, well, the universe can be funny that way," she remarked, tracing the robot's arm with her finger.

"In more ways than one," Tanya added. She looked at the Drone and thought for a moment and asked, "Say, didn't you say Dr. Beakin make this for you?"

"Yes, but other scientists helped, too."

"And you learned how to work it?"

"Yep," she nodded. She remembered the day when she started using this bad boy back on Puck World...

* * *

_In a training room, Dr. Beakin, Suzette, and Admiral McMallard were at the finish line as they watched Twyla in her Drone vessel learning how to fight in it. So far, she wasn't doing a bad job. She shot perfect shots at her boarded targets; kept her robot upright; and learned how to fly through hoops well._

_"Wow, look at her, go," Suzette commented in awe._

_"I know, she's a natural," Dr. Beakin agreed._

_"Hmph," the admiral remarked with a grin, his arms folded, "she really has come a long way in her training."_

_"I'm still against her going in the Drone army...alone," Suzette confided._

_"We all are, Suzette," Dr. Beakin sympathized, a hand on her shoulder, "but sending a human to Earth is the best idea. That way, she can blend in and not get unwanted attention... As long as she doesn't wear her battle suit around."_

_"...I just hope Canard and the others are all right after being in her world for so long," the admiral said with worried expression, mostly about his daughter whom he hadn't seen in a long year._

_"Well, we won't know if they are or not if we don't send someone to find them," Dr. Beakin told them both. "Which is why we should send Twyla. She's the only human and capable pilot to do it."_

_When Twyla had finished her coarse of flying through hoops, she landed at the finish line to meet her friends and opened up the chest to step out to join them. "How was that?" she asked._

_"Not bad," Dr. Beakin answered, giving her a four-five. "Not bad at all."_

_"I'll say," Suzette agreed, giving her a four-five, too. "I didn't think anyone can ride a Drone like that."_

_"Thanks, guys," Twyla replied._

_"I must admit, soldier," admiral said, making her stand up straight when he came up to her, "you amazed all of us for getting the hang of that Drone so quickly."_

_"Thank you, sir," she nodded._

_"And," he sighed, not liking what he was going to say next, "you know that the Drone send-off to Earth is tomorrow night."_

_"Yes, sir, I do," she affirmed._

_"Now, listen good and well," the admiral announced, though with a hint of concern, "You'll be going in the heart of the enemy_ solo_, understand?" Twyla nodded. "That means you have to be extra careful in the Drone army and not draw attention to yourself no matter what. And once you're on Earth, you escape the Saurians' new base on that planet immediately. If you have to leave your vessel, then you must. This will be a very dangerous mission and I know you've handled deadly jobs before, but you'll be going right into the lions' den." _

_"I understand, sir, but...I can do it," she reassured._

_"There's that old Twyla saying," Suzette murmured to Dr. Beakin._

_"Yep, crazy yet determined," the doctor agreed._

_"I heard that," Twyla said bluntly, although she grinned, "but I'm flattered."_

_"We have no doubt you're brave, strong, and loyal..." the admiral went on, getting her attention, "but that's the kind of soldier we don't want to lose. All we ask as your teachers and your friends is that you do well to hold on your own and we hope that you find the others, God willing."_

_"I will, sir," she vowed._

_Dr. Beakin was in his lab giving Twyla's battle suit one last check-up before she had to leave with it tomorrow night and wanted to make sure it was in tact._

_Then Twyla knocked and came in. "Hi, Dr. B," she greeted, "How's my ride?"_

_"It's still looking good," he answered as he finished up. "Funny," he chuckled, "never thought we'd use a Drone as a weapon."_

_"Yeah, well, wonders never cease," she shrugged._

_"Having a human from another universe who's told us about Jesus and God and the many stories relating to Them, that's definitely a fact," Dr. Beakin agreed._

_Twyla grinned. She still couldn't believe how everyone on Puck World was ready to come to God and become Christians. It was kind of like a dream, especially the scientists like Dr. Beakin who was the very first Duck scientist to accept Jesus._

_She also recalled when Dr. Beakin agreed with her that she should meet everyone to help things out and helped her convince Admiral McMallard to let her help. He'd always stand up for her. Suzette, too, though she'd be the most worriesome of her well-being next to Canard who was always protective of her before he left._

_"I've got to confess, I'm not gonna like seeing you off tomorrow," Dr. Beakin said honestly. "I've already said good-bye to Tanya and Canard..."_

_Twyla understood his silence. He missed his favorite student a lot as well as his friend Canard whom she missed a lot, too. She put a hand on his shoulder and said with a reassuring smile, "I'll find them."_

_Dr. Beakin grinned and nodded._

_"And... Well, I'd like to say thank you," she continued._

_"For what?" he asked curiously._

_"For keeping me company along with Suzette and Canard... And convincing the admiral to let me help and for this Drone vessel..."_

_The good doctor smiled and put a hand on hers. "Think nothing of it. You've been a very big help around here."_

_"Glad to be of big help," she replied. Her smile faded away and she turned her head._

_"What's wrong?" Dr. Beakin asked, noticing her concerned look._

_"You think Canard will be...angry with me for breaking my promise to leave the tower?" she asked hesitantly._

_"Well, he might get a tad upset," he answered, his thumb and index finger an inch away from each other, then he patted her shoulder, "but he'll be happy to see you, though. A member of the Resistance, fighting very well, and teaching us the Way."_

_"Yeah..." she replied, though she still wondered. "Do you think, even though he might not have mentioned me to them, he's taught them the Way himself? I mean, all of if happened on Earth, you know."_

_"Hmm...maybe. And if he hasn't, then you can help him."_

_"Yeah..." she repeated, but with a comforting smile._

_Dr. Beakin grinned and patted both of her shoulders. "Well, better get some rest. You've got a big day tomorrow."_

_Twyla nodded obediently and bid the good doctor a farewell, sad knowing she was gonna give him a final farewell tomorrow night..._

* * *

Looking at the vessel now, Twyla felt it wasn't just a weapon, it was a gift from Dr. Beakin and it made her grin in gratitude at all of the support he and Suzette and Admiral McMallard gave her to keep going while she was training in the Resistance.

"You know, this vessel is kind of like having a car," Twyla told Tanya. "Despite it was once a killing machine and it flies and has weapons."

"Not to mention, a vehicle like this can't get insurance," Tanya added for a joke.

"No, but it does serve as life insurance," Twyla put in.

"I'll vouch for that," she nodded. "I'm just amazed you can come up with a good idea by suggesting to use it as a battle suit, and learn how to ride it yourself."

She shrugged humbly and looked away. "Yeah, well, you'd be surprised what crazy determination can do for ya."

"I can vouch for that, too." The blonde Duck looked at the vessel that her teacher had helped made for Twyla and kind of had a longing on her face.

"You miss him?" Twyla asked, guessing she was thinking about Dr. Beakin.

"Uh-huh," she answered, rubbing her arm, figuring what she meant.

"Yeah, so do I," she sympathized. "He said he misses you, too." Tanya grinned in gratitude to hear that. "You know, he sure helped me a lot back on Puck World," Twyla continued, leaning against her robot. "He was the one who insisted the admiral to let me help taking care of others. He said extra hands are always appreciated. Not to mention, the support he and Suzette gave me during my training."

"That's Dr. Beakin, all right," Tanya nodded. "Supportive, positive, and helpful. Whenever I'd feel discouraged about my work in school, he'd be there to help me keep kicking and keep working hard."

"I know, the doctor kept telling me how much fun it was seeing you improve."

Tanya grinned and said, "And I bet he had fun seeing you improve, too." Twyla smiled at that as she kept going. "You know, some teachers are kind of like parents. They not only teach you, they encourage you, give you helpful advice, and stand by you like a friend. Not to mention, they can inspire you to do better with yourself."

Twyla nodded in agreement. "Yep, most good teachers are like that."

"You know, you're kind of a teacher yourself," Tanya told her. "I mean, you've taught everyone including us about God and Jesus. You encouraged us to come to them and accept them. You helped given them the inspiration to keep pushing and reach their goals with more faith in their hearts. You've given them the helpful advice they needed to improve themselves, too."

Twyla smiled in flattery and looked away. "Yeah, well, I just wanted to show you all God's love, that's all."

With that said and done, she bid Tanya a farewell and explored more of the Pond. She headed for the living room, wondering if the others were around, too. The only one there was Grin sitting cross-legged on a corner by himself.

He opened his eye to see his new human teammate at the door. "Hi, Grin," she greeted with a wave. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Meditating on everything that happened today," he answered, meaning the discussion about Jesus and God.

Although Twyla understood that, there was something about his kind of meditation she wanted to tell him about. "You know, Grin," she explained, sitting next to him, "Christians have a different way to meditate. Would you like me to show you? That is, if you don't mind." There thing was: People would meditate from other religions with crystals and chanting weird words, not like how a Christian ought to do.

"Sure, please show me," he said politely. Twyla smiled at his eagerness. Grin had a different point of view of spiritual living and was willing to learn anything a Christian should do.

"Okay, now..." she started to say, thinking the right words, "First of all, crystals...aren't needed at all. No object is needed. You just need yourself, and focus in your heart and mind about God's word, you see. And you remind yourself of the wonderful things He and the stuff He made. Your world and ours. God's love and care for us, especially when He sent His Son to die on the Cross for our sins and Jesus rose from the grave, conquered evil, and his Holy Spirit is with us. Above everything, you thank God for the good things that's been going on. Like for instance, knowing your Cousin Suzette and everyone is all right and that the Saurians survive, only because it means they still have the Dimensional Portal. Did you get that?"

Grin thought for a moment and nodded. "I believe so." He stayed quiet for a moment, his big hands wrapped together and Twyla stayed quiet herself as he thanked God for sending Twyla to tell him and his teammates of the news of their home world and how everyone was doing and that He helped her get here and save them from the Saurians in the mine and that she taught them about Him and Jesus, helping them see the real light in life.

He opened his eyes after he was done and smiled. "Well, was this meditation better?" she questioned curiously.

The gentle giant looked at her and patted her shoulder. "Much better," he answered. "Thank you."

"No problem."

"No, thank you," he repeated a little seriously, "We never knew of these things until you came."

Twyla smiled at him and said, "Happy I could teach you all." She remembered what Suzette told her of her Cousin Grin. Then they were little, they'd play a lot and Grin would often act like a big brother to her because they were the only children of their families.

Sadly, a few years later, Grin turned hard, mean, and rough. Suzette couldn't play with him and Grin often looked down at her, calling her a crybaby and she was too scared to go near him anymore. Thankfully, one day, he changed differently, a lot gentler, friendlier, and wiser.

Grin also remembered when Suzette would be so scared of him when he was a bad egg and how hard it was to regain her trust when he wanted to make changes...

* * *

_Young Grin in his young teenage years walked up to his aunt and uncle's house. He was a tad nervous because it'd been a while since his little Cousin Suzette wanted to play with him thanks to his bad behavior long ago, but he really wanted to make amends and be friends with her again._

_He knocked at the door and was greeted by his brown-feathered black-haired uncle and aunt who were happy to see him. His aunt went up to get Suzette while Grin waited downstairs to with his uncle who assured him he can win Suzette over._

_Then his aunt came down taking her daughter's hand who looked very uneasy and kept her eyes on the ground when they came up to her Cousin Grin._

_Grin wanted to give her a hug, but when he tried reaching for her, she stood a little ways back in fright. He was very sad, though he could only blame himself for his attitude years ago, but he didn't want his cousin to fear him forever._

_With encouragement from her parents, Suzette reluctantly left with Grin, though she didn't touch him or look at him as they walked to the park they used to play in when they were little._

_Grin offered to push her on the swings, but she shook her head. He tried to get her to play on the slides and jungle gyms with him, but every time, she silently refused. He was having a very hard time getting her to warm up to him again and was almost at his wits end._

_He'd almost thought about just taking her home until he heard a thud behind him and saw his little cousin on her knees and tears coming out of her eyes. He quickly ran up to her and asked worriedly, "Are you okay, Suzie?"_

_Though she was still crying, she looked up at him in surprise that he'd called her by her nickname just like he did when they were little. She had her hands on her bleeding knee and Grin could see she cut it when she fell. "Uh-oh, I see you hurt that knee."_

_For a moment, she thought he was criticizing her and was about to call her a crybaby and started getting up and walked off to her house._

_"Where are you going?" Grin asked as he followed her._

_"Home," she said, her voice cracked since she was crying, "I want Mom to look at it."_

_"Well, hey, let me at leat help stop the bleeding." he insisted. He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and made her bend down. She didn't want to be this close to him, but she was afraid to make him mad if she objected, so she obeyed him when he asked her to move her hands from her knee as he took a strip from the leg on his pants and wrapped her injury._

_"There you go," Grin told her, "Isn't that better?"_

_"Kind of," she sniffed, "It still hurts some."_

_"Well, then, let's go back to the house, then," he replied, extending a hand to help her up, but she looked away from him. "Suzie," he said gently, kneeling down to her. "I know I was a bully back then, but I've gotten some help. So I'm not the same hard-boiled egg anymore. That's why I wanted to play with you today: To make up for being mean to you so we can be friends again." _

_Suzette looked at him with new eyes of wonder and she could see in his eyes the same cousin she adored and looked up to when they were young. She took his hand and he helped her up to her feet. She cried again, but this time, with joy and hugged him. Grin smiled and hugged her back._

_"Shh," he hushed, patting her back. "It's okay," he whispered gently. She nodded and wiped away her tears and gave her cousin the smile he'd missed so much it almost made him cry. He bent down in front of her and said, "Hop on, and then I'll take you to let your mom look at that cut."_

_"Okay," she replied, getting on his back. This was just like old times, her carrying him like this. Suzette dreamed of getting back her beloved cousin who'd been like a big brother to her. "Thanks, Cousin Grin," she told him and gave him a kiss on the cheek._

_Grin smiled bashfully and said, "You're welcome, Suzie. And afterwards, when your cut has been treated, I'll treat you to some ice cream."_

_"Yay!" she cheered, hugging him tighter. "You're the best, Grin. I love you."_

* * *

At that memory, Grin shedded a tear, for he never forgot how he made up with his beloved cousin.

Twyla saw this and she remembered when Suzette told her how Grin changed back into the sweet cousin she knew, she shedded a tear, too, thankful she and Grin were friends again.

She patted his knee and Grin wondered if she learned of their history, but judging by the understand smile on her face, he knew she did and nodded a thank-you, swelling up with gratitude for his family, his teammates who'd become his friends, the thought of the Dimensional Portal in one piece, and for Twyla for coming to them and telling them how to be really grateful and joyful with everything.


	7. An Ex-Thief's Tale

_**Now I know this is short, but I got impatient and wanted to post a new chapter. I have to be honest with you all, I'm a bit of a slow writer. And I realize my story is weird having Christian beliefs, but hey, we all write what we like, right? But for those who are reading, thank you for at least checking them out. ;) Much appreciated. Even though I'm inexperienced, I will try hard to make this story as interesting as possible for you, but right now, I'm just taking things at my own pace and mostly making things up as I go along, so please bear with me and God bless.**_

* * *

**Chapter 7: An Ex-Thief's Tale**

Twyla left Grin alone and looked around the Pond some more. She already got the training hall and weapons' arsenal and living room memorized. She found a storage room, the kitchen, and the swimming pool.

"Boy, they sure worked hard to build this place up," Twyla thought aloud. "Wonder how long it took."

She wandered past her teammates' bedrooms, then suddenly, Duke came out of his bedroom and found Twyla in the hall. "Ah, so we meet again, huh?" Duke pronounced, greeting her with a grin.

"Hi, Duke," she greeted back with a wave.

"Hey, kid. Headin' back to your room?"

"No, I'm just exploring a bit more. So far, I've seen just about everything, but I don't like goin' back to my room yet."

Duke thought for a second and with an idea in his head, he put an arm around her shoulder and offered, "Then how about I show you someplace you might like to go to?"

"Okay, what is it?" she asked curiously.

"Just somethin' that's good to refresh the mind when you feel trapped underground sometimes," he answered, wanting to keep it a surprise.

Twyla tilted her head and wondered what he meant, but she let him lead her to the elevator to the top floor where the ice rink was. She raised an eyebrow wondering how this place was going to refresh anyone's mind unless they knew how to play hockey.

To her surprise, he took her upstairs of the rink and opened a door that showed her sunshine as she stepped out to see that they were on the Pond's rooftop, overlooking the town of Anaheim. She looked in awe as she made out the tall city buildings and the park that was probably a mile or two away and the woods that weren't so far away from the Pond.

"Wow, cool view!" she commented.

"Ain't it, though?" Duke asked, coming up next to her. "Sometimes, when I'm not goin' around the world stoppin' villains with the others or when I've got nothin' to do here or when I feel stressed and want to get away from it all, I come up here and bask in the view of the town. I prefer comin' up here at nighttime, though, 'cause the city lights at night make it more enjoyable."

"I know what you mean," she nodded in agreement. "Although, when I, myself, come out in the night, I'd like to see stars in the sky, but it doesn't hurt seeing city lights, either."

"Nah, and sometimes, even though the traffic is dreaded," Duke continued, closing his eyes as if he was listening to something, "the sounds of it can kind of be relaxing."

"Yeah...at a distance," Twyla put in.

"Which is why it's more relaxing," Duke pointed out straight forwardly. That made her giggle, then she closed her eyes, feeling the wind blowing on her face and the warm sunlight on her freckled skin.

"You listenin' to the sounds of traffic, too?" he queried, noticing her calm silence.

"No, I'm feeling the breeze and the sun," she corrected, her eyes closed. "It's been a very long time since I've stopped to enjoy nature. In fact, even though I was alone in the woods for days with only birds, squirrels, and rabbits to keep me company, I did like being surrounded by trees and feeling the grass beneath my feet and sleeping under the stars. I've always been a nature girl, to put it simply."

Duke nodded in understanding and that made him a bit sorry for her because he knew that she'd been taken away from the beauty of Earth to a planet that was being temporarily dominated and was forced to hide in a tower most of the time until finally had the freedom to walk around and help everyone. Although, with Puck World being in ruins, she couldn't enjoy things like star-gazing and taking walks in the woods...

However, even without the Saurians, Puck World still wouldn't give Twyla the natural landscape she seemed to love since it was ice cold and had no trees or grass. Oh, sure, it had stars at night, but, so far, only his world's skies could've pleased her than everything below. So either way, she still probably wouldn't have been happy there...

Thankfully, she made everyone else happy and he figured she must be happy to do that for them, teaching them the Way, accepting Jesus, helping them learn to love and obey God. That was something, wasn't it?

Twyla looked at the woods and remembered the other woodlands she had to stay in and missed the little critters she befriended and talked to and the tall, strong trees and the little lake she found to collect water. It was a bit lonely, but it was fun.

Duke wondered what she was thinking, but seeing the forest outside of the city, he had a feeling what and kept quiet, enjoying the view himself. Twyla glanced at Duke and when she saw his face, she remembered that eye patch he was wearing and that red dot behind it, which she knew it was his eye. Though she wondered what could've happened to him that cost him his eye.

She knew obviously it was in his...thieving days. When she heard a thief like him had joined the Resistance, it amazed her to hear a criminal like him reformed because of the bad things that were happening...to _his _world. She had to admit, she did find him interesting... Actually, she found all of the Ducks interesting from this team here to Puck World, being a different yet advanced, intelligent species of birds.

Then Duke's red eye looked at her and with a shock, realizing she'd been staring at his eye patch too long, quickly turned her head away, silently scolding herself for being inadvertently rude for looking at him like that. However, he grinned in understanding, knowing of her curiosity regarding what happened to his eye. He sat down and leaned back with his hands behind him as he explained, "It was a bad sword fight. I was fightin' an enemy swordsman long ago."

Twyla turned to him as he continued, sitting down and listening carefully to his story. "He was in the way of a priceless gem and we put up a good fight. I was confident that I was gonna win and claim my prize..." He paused, touching his scarred eye and said, "But my cockiness got the better of me and he took an eye from me... It hurt so badly...but I wasn't gonna leave after coming that far to get the jewel, so I picked up my sword and fought him again until I beat him. Oh, sure, I got what I'd come for...and left what I came in with in exchange."

Twyla frowned in pity and said, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," he replied, not looking at her, his gaze at the blue sky. "It was my selfishness back then that made me lose an eye." He scoffed as he went on, "I guess that was my punishment for making wrong mistakes."

Twyla was quiet for a moment, hugging her knees and looked at the city, then she said, "At least you cleaned up your act later."

"Yeah," Duke said quietly, though he still looked down. "Wish it'd been sooner, though...then I probably would've been happier."

Twyla blinked at him, and with a grin, she said, "Well, I'm not saying it was good that you were a thief...but it was good that you learned how to wield a sword; picks locks to get into enemy bases; and take things from the enemy that we can use to our advantage. Your skills became very useful to Puck World and to this Earth. Perhaps it was fate that you became a thief, not to do wrong things, but to master things so they can be used for good later."

Duke looked at her for a moment, feeling a little confused by her words at first, but after a moment of thought, she did have a point. He'd never be proud of the crimes he committed...but he was proud of having the skills to help those in need today. With a smirk, he nodded to her and said, "I guess you're right." Leaning forward with his arms on his knees and his chin on his head, he added, "And you know somethin', kid, maybe it was fate that helped you develop skills as a commando like Mallory and to learn how to pilot that Drone vessel of yours."

He ruffled her hair and continued, "I mean, if you hadn't, we would've done for in that mine."

Twyla touched her slightly messed up hair and smiled at his compliment. "It's amazing what fate has in store for us."

"Yep, and it makes you wonder what'll happen to us next," Duke agreed, leaning back again, looking at the sky.

"Well, that's what makes life so much fun and exciting," she replied, hugging her knees again, looking at him in the face, "You never know until it happens."

The eldest Duck grinned and nodded in agreement. "Mm-hmm, things would be dull if there were no mysteries at all."

The two sat on the roof for several minutes, enjoying the view of the city, wondering what this world was going to throw at them and their teammates.

Duke looked at the kid and he couldn't help feeling that she had a few mysteries of her own. To be pulled from a different Earth from a different time by the Saurians. What did they want with her and what did they do to hurt her and make her forget what happened to her?

Thankfully, Canard was there for her, although, frankly, even though he understood Canard's need to keep her safe...it really would've been nice to have met her before they came this or any other Earth. At least, then... Well, he didn't know, but she was here to help them and teach them Way, so there was no need to sweat it. Still, Duke and he was sure the others, too, would like to know more of Twyla's story.

The girl looked over the city and thought about the stories she'd heard from the Ducks and wondered what other stories they hadn't told her yet... What she really wondered about was when the Saurians were going to show up... And how would their leader Dragunus react when he finds out she's with them?

Trying not to show it in front of Duke, she mentally shuddered at the idea of being in their hands again, but she couldn't help but think: Would they even want her after all this time...?


	8. The Flashblade Brothers

**Chapter 8: The Flashblade Brothers**

After several minutes of watching the view on the roof with Duke, she bid him farewell and went on her way again. She didn't know where else to look at, so she just decided to head back to her room this time.

On her way, she turned a corner and met up with young Nosedive, both nearly jumping backwards, surprised to see each other. Twyla laughed bashfully and scratched the back of her head saying, "Sorry, Nosedive, I expect to see you there."

"Hey, it's cool," the young Duck assured. "Where were you headed, anyway?"

"To my room. I just finished explorin' the Pond, so now that I've got nothin' else to do..." However, he interrupted her.

"Sounds like you've got a bad case of boredom," Dive declared, pointing a finger up, and pointing a thumb to himself, "and Dr. Flashblade knows the kind of cure that'll help." Without another word, he took Twyla by the hand and took her to the arcade room where there were hockey masks and jerseys hanging on the walls and lounge chairs sitting at a big screen T.V. and an air hockey table in front of a couch.

Before she could ask a question, Nosedive pulled her to the little hockey table. "Okay, I know you never played ice hockey, but how about air hockey?" he asked her.

"Oh, well, I've played some with my cousins in Chicago," she answered, "but that was eight years ago."

"But how did you play?" he queried.

"I played all right," she shrugged, "I mean, since it didn't involve skating, it was easy and painless."

"Well, if you never played ice hockey, how do you know how hard and painful it is?" he asked her playfully.

"I can tell just by watching," she answered simply, "The point is: Air-hockey was fun to play with, all right?"

"All right, then, let's start playin'," he replied, putting her at one end of the table and standing at the other end across from her. He pulled out his air-hockey mallet as she pulled out hers, and took out a flat, round, plastic orange puck. "You know what this is?" he asked her, holding it up in his hand for her to see.

Twyla looked at her as if he asked a foolish question, which he did. "Gee, I don't know," she replied sarcastically, "Is it an air-hockey puck?"

"Oh, very funny," he said, rolling eyes. "Never knew a smart-alecking human."

"Well, now you do," she shrugged with a grin. "I'm just sayin', I'm not completely clueless when it comes to sports and I do remember the object of the game. You try to hit your puck in my goal and use my mallet to try to keep it out and get it into your goal instead."

"Then with the instructions out of the way, let's see if your skills are as good as your memory, girly-girl," he pronounced, acting as if he was the winner already. Twyla felt only just a tad bit annoyed at his nickname for her, but she put her head in the game as they kept the puck out of their goals for about two minutes.

"Jeez, I thought you said you hadn't played this game in eight years," Nosedive said as he kept moving his mallet.

"I did," she replied, keeping her eyes on the puck that went back-and-forth between their goals.

"But you'd think eight years would make things difficult," he put in.

"By that, you mean, you had hoped it would make things difficult," she corrected. Then with a good swing of her wrist, she hit the puck and Dive failed to keep it out of his goal. She looked at the shocked young Duck with a grin and asked, "Right?"

"Whoa!" he cried, not believing his eyes. "You just..." He demonstrated, flicking his wrist, imitating her, "...hit that thing in there."

Twyla just shrugged. "No big. Although, I'm just glad one of us made a goal." She shook her nearly worn out hand after so much moving and blocking. "I was gettin' tired."

"Man, did you ever kick your cousins hard at this game?" he asked, scratching his head.

"I don't remember," she answered, thinking back, "I think we were all fairly good. Like I said, it's been a while and we never kept score back then."

"Maybe you guys didn't keep score, but you sure kept that strong wrist of yours," Dive commented.

"I'll say," said a voice in the room. They looked to see Wildwing leaning on a wall by the door.

"Whoa, bro, when'd you get in here?" Dive asked, surprised to see his brother come in without either of them noticing.

"Well, I was passin' by until heard clacking and I thought I'd come see what was goin' on," he explained. To Twyla, he said, "I gotta say, for someone who hasn't practiced air-hockey in eight years, you moved your hand here and there almost at lightning speed."

"Oh, you really think so?" she asked, feeling modest.

"Yeah, not to mention your hand seemed strong," he added.

"Well, I may not have practiced air-hockey, but I do work out," she explained.

"Your arms, too?" Wing queried.

"Yes, why?"

"Hmm...nothing," he answered, looking away, "just thinking if a hand like that can be strong at air-hockey, makes me wonder how strong your arms would be at ice hockey."

"Yeah..." Nosedive nodded, pointing a finger at his big brother.

"Well, don't get any ideas," she told the brothers straight forwardly, giving them a warning look, "Air-hockey, I can handle. Ice hockey, noo. End of story, so let's change the subject, please."

"Very well, then," Wing replied, letting her have it her way.

"Thank you." Twyla leaned against the table, her head on her hands and asked, "So, how good are you at air-hockey, Wildwing?"

"I'm okay," he answered simply.

"Okay?" Nosedive repeated, thinking his big brother's response was an understatement. "He's great! He can keep a puck out like it's nothing. And I'm not just talkin' about air-hockey. You should see how he plays goalie on the ice."

Twyla nodded. She heard from Canard what a good goalie Wildwing was and how even a team captain like Canard has a hard time getting a puck past his best friend. "And what other positions to you guys, do?" she asked.

"Well, Dive here's the left winger," Wing explained, coming to them, putting an arm around his little brother, "Duke's the team center, Mallory's the right winger, Tanya is the left defenseman..."

"Pardon me, but wouldn't it be appropriate to call her a defensewoman?" she asked. "Not that it's a big deal or anything. And Grin is the...right defenseman, correct?"

"You got it," Nosedive nodded.

"You guys must be just as good at your positions as Wildwing is to his," Twyla remarked.

"Well, we don't wanna brag," Dive started to say, looking proud, rubbing his knuckles on his armored shirt.

"Actually, _we _don't wanna brag, but _he _does," Wing corrected, rubbing his brother hard on head, "He's always had an ego problem."

"Hey!" Dive complained, touching his head.

"It's the truth, baby brother."

Twyla grinned at their brotherly behavior. It was nice that their age wasn't that different from each other's so they could have a lot of fun together. Canard said that they had different personalities, but so did she and her little sister.

Speaking of which, Wildwing remembered something and asked Twyla, "Say, didn't you say you have a sister?"

"Yes, a little sister," she answered.

"Is she as bad as this one?" Wing asked, indicating his head to his brother.

"I resent that," Dive replied.

"Well, I haven't known him so far," she said, "but based from the outgoing, cheerful, yet silly and competitive streak goin' on, she is a bit like him." Nosedive frowned at the words silly and competitive. "And they're both blonde, except hers is lighter and longer."

"Sounds like they'd make good friends," Wildwing remarked.

"Yeah, but she's 7," she pointed out.

"Makes no real difference," Wildwing shrugged.

"Oh, very funny, bro," Nosedive mocked.

"Yeah, like you and your brother," she told Wing, "Ann Marie, that's my sister's name, and I don't have very much in common. In fact, she's someone who could play sports. And if she played hockey, she'd be a natural."

"So she loves sports more than you do," Wing observed.

"Yep, she's got sports in her blood. Myself? Ehh..." she shrugged. "Not all siblings have the same talents like you guys do. I mean, you both play hockey. Of course, hockey's in every Duck's blood, isn't it?"

"Mostly," Nosedive nodded.

"Yeah, it has been a traditional and national sport for centuries," Wildwing added.

"Yeah, but the point is: Ann Marie and I are different. At least you guys have a bond goin'," she said, spinning the mallet on the hockey table.

"Why, you and your sister don't get along?" Wildwing asked curiously.

"Well, we're just so far away from each other, age-wise," she explained, still spinning the mallet, "and we don't communicate with each other much. Things are just awkward between us."

The brothers looked at each other, wondering why it was so, but judging on the depressed look in her eyes, they let it go. To change the subject, Twyla asked, "So, other than ice hockey, do you guys often play air-hockey together?"

"Yeah, when we have the time," Wildwing answered.

"And things get pretty intense when we play," Nosedive added. "You wanna see?"

"Sure," she replied, moving from the air-hockey table, sitting on the couch. "I'll keep score while I'm watchin'."

"Thanks," Dive said, then turned to his big brother, nudging him with his elbow. "How about it, Wildwing? Let's give Twyla a show between bros."

"All right, then," he said, getting on the other side of the table, getting his mallet ready. "Let's set a time limit. The guy with the most points at the end of seven minutes wins?"

"Sounds good to me," he confirmed.

"Hang on, I don't have a watch," Twyla spoke up.

Wildwing looked at her wrists and saw that neither had a communicator which he and his teammates had.

"That's right, we didn't give you your own wrist com yet," Wildwing observed.

"Afraid not," she shrugged.

"Here, you can use mine to time," Nosedive told her, lending her his com. "Think you know how to use it?"

"I think so," she replied. She found the clock on the thing and nodded, "Yep, I've got it."

With that settled, both boys got into positions, steadying their mallets.

"Ready?" Twyla asked, with a raised hand, swinging it down. "Go!"

For the first five minutes, the Flashblade brothers the puck back and forth, heating things up while Twyla kept score. So far, Wildwing was ahead by 10 and Nosedive had...3.

_Whoa, Wildwing is a good goalie, whether it's air hockey or ice hockey._

For the last two minutes, they played with Wildwing still making more points and finally... "Time!" Twyla called.

Nosedive wagged his tired arm that'd been hitting and blocking for seven long minutes. "Your arm hurt, bro?" Wildwing asked.

"Uh...just a little...sore," he answered, still wagging it.

_And so is the poor guy's score_, Twyla mentally added. "Well, Wildwing wins by 23."

"All right," Wildwing replied, quietly cheerful.

"And...what did I get?" Nosedive asked, bracing himself for a bad score.

Twyla was hesitant for a moment and announced, "5."

"Ouch," Dive winced.

"But hey, you got more points than you did when you were playing with me," Twyla put in, trying to be positive.

"Yeah, but we were only playing for two minutes," he pointed out.

"Right," she replied, looking away.

"Perhaps you and Twyla would like to resume your game?" Wildwing suggested. "I mean, I was the one who interrupted."

"I'd like to, but my arm can't take any more," Dive denied.

"Well, then, maybe you and I can play, Wildwing," Twyla offered. "And, Nosedive, you can keep score."

"Sounds good to me," Nosedive said, taking his com back from Twyla who took his place at the hockey table.

"Seven minutes cool with you?" she asked Wildwing, bracing her mallet.

"Sure." Wildwing flicked the puck to her with his hand. "Here, you can start us off. Ladies first."

"Oh, thanks," she replied, liking his gentlemanly charm.

"All right, well, get set, players," Dive announced, "And go!"

Twyla took the first hit and Wildwing blocked it, sending it back. They hit and blocked for five minutes, neither one making a score. They both seemed like good goalies at this game. Finally, Wing made one goal. Then at the last minute, Twyla made a goal for herself, too.

Then... "Time!" Nosedive cried. "Well, so far...you both made one point."

"Then looks like we're tied," Twyla pronounced, coming up to Wildwing and extending her hand. "Nice game, Wildwing."

"You, too," he said, shaking her hand. "You make a good goalie."

"At the table, right?" she queried, hoping he wasn't implying ice hockey.

"Yes, at the table," he assured.

"Then, thank you," she smiled. "I'll have to check out your style on the ice, too, sometime."

"Thanks. We practice frequently, so you can watch us play on the rink anytime."

"Cool."

"Right now, let's ask Tanya if she can build you your own wrist com," Wing suggested, a hand on her shoulder. "The sooner you get one, the better."

"Okay."

"Yeah, then you'll be officially a part of the team," Nosedive declared, an arm around her shoulder.

"Great. Say how's your arm?"

"The feeling's coming back. Yours?"

"It's a little sore, but it's fine."

"A little sore?" he asked in disbelief. "When I was done playing, my arm almost felt like it was going to fall off."

Twyla just shrugged and Wildwing said, "Well, Dive, she said she works out and you on the other hand..."

"Hey...I may not have super strength like Grin, but at least I've got speed, energy..."

"And his undying ego," Wing added to Twyla, making her grin.

"Hey, Duke has an ego goin' on, too, you know," Nosedive put in as the three walked out.

"Yeah, but at least he's calm and level-headed," Wildwing pointed out. "You yourself are usually impatient."

"Yeah, well, so is Mallory," Dive countered with folded arms...er, wings.

"Yes, but she works out and she's strong like Twyla, too."

"Stronger, actually," Twyla corrected.

"Gee, everyone and their brother is a critic," Nosedive muttered, looking away.

"We're not criticizing you, little bro. We're just pointing out a few flaws about yourself."

"Yes," Twyla agreed. "No one's perfect."

"Yeah, well, how come the others don't hear their flaws being pointed out as much as I do?" Nosedive questioned.

"Because some have more flaws than others," Wildwing answered simply.

Dive shook his head and looked at Twyla. "You see what I put up with?"

"Hey, don't let it get to ya," Twyla advised, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We have flaws, but we've still got qualities that make us good people."

The young blonde Duck thought for a moment, and grinned. "Yeah, we are a pretty good bunch," he agreed, an arm around Twyla's shoulder.

"Yeah, we're rough around the edges, but we've still got honesty and such," Wildwing added, an arm wrapped around her other shoulder.

"Yep, we're jewels in the rough," Twyla proclaimed.

"We're...what?" Dive asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you see, my last name, Zureikat, is Arabic for 'jewel in the rough,'" she explained, "Rouge around the edges, but full of good qualities."

"Well, that makes sense and not a bad meaning for a last name," Wildwing commented.

"Thanks."

"How do you spell your last name, anyway?" Nosedive asked.

"Z-U-R-E-I-KA-T," she spelled, "It's pretty uncommon in America since it's Arabic."

"I can imagine," Wing agreed, "Do people ask you how to spell your last name all the time?"

"Oh, yes, every single time," she nodded. "but I'm used to it."

"It's easy to remember, though," Dive pointed out. "It's got the word cat in it... Of course, it's a 'k', but it's still easy to remember."

"Glad to hear that," Twyla said.

On the way to find Tanya, Twyla had to admit, the Flashblade brothers were as nice as Canard said they were. Wildwing was a good sportsman and Nosedive was a childish yet fun guy, both easy to love and good friends.

_Not to mention, the brotherly love they've got goin' on... It'd be nice if Ann Marie and I were this close... I just hope she and everyone else at home are doin' okay without me for this long._

Still, being in a different universe in another Earth in the past... What was that all about? She still wished she knew...

"So, did that healthy dose of fun cure your boredom?" Dive asked her, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, it did. Thanks, Dr. Flashblade."

"Doctor?" Wildwing repeated.

"Hey, if anyone here is the professional of fun, it's me," Nosedive declared proudly.

"So far, that's his only professionalism besides hockey," Wildwing said to Twyla, making her giggle and his little brother raising an eyebrow in annoyance.

"Does your sister get this sort of thing, too?" Dive asked.

"Yeah, which is another reason why you two would make the best of friends," Twyla answered, patting his shoulder.

"At least there's a human besides Trash and Mookie whom you can be compatible with," Wildwing said, "even if she is younger than you."

"Yeah, I guess," Dive thought, though he still felt offended. "And I think you two are compatible, too."

"How so?" Twyla asked curiously.

"You're both good at air-hockey, mild-mannered, smart, and honest," he pointed out.

"You think so?" Wildwing asked.

"Yeah, I mean, so far, anyway," he shrugged.

Twyla and Wildwing looked at each other and grinned. They both guessed that they did have a few things in common.

"Yeah," Twyla said.

"Perhaps we are," Wildwing agreed.

Another thing they shared that they stayed silent about was having a good friendship with Canard and the determination to get him back.

* * *

_**Hey, guys, I'm sorry that this chapter isn't very chapter, but I just wanted to write about my OC getting to know her new teammates. On the next chapter, I'll try to spicin(?) things up and put some more action in this story. 'Kay? ;) Please stick with me. God bless.**_


	9. Stopping the Robbing

**Chapter 9: Stopping the Robbing**

After Wildwing asked Tanya to build Twyla a wrist communicator of her own, she got started on it right away while everyone else waited in the living room.

Wildwing and Nosedive talked about Twyla's play on the air-hockey table, saying how well she did defending her goal, which made Twyla blush.

"Whoa, she blocked for that long and only missed once?" Duke asked Wing.

"That's right, and she moved her hand pretty quickly, too," Wildwing added.

"Well, you were just as fast," Twyla put in, wanting to give him credit. "I mean, I just got lucky. No big."

"For someone to be that good after eight years of not playin' that game, it is a bit big," Duke disagreed.

"Well, hey, anyone can play air-hockey," Twyla insisted, "It's not like I can do that well at ice hockey like all of you."

"Not unless you wanted to," Grin pointed out, sitting at a spot cross-legged meditating while he was listening.

"Yeah," Twyla replied, unconvinced, "but my little sister Ann Marie, on the other hand, could if she wanted to. She's got the skills to kill when it comes to sports. She's never played hockey, but her main sports are basketball and baseball and she's one of the best players at her school and does well in her classes."

"Sounds like you're proud," Mallory concluded.

"I am," she said.

"Proud of what?" asked another female voice which belonged to Tanya who just came in the room with a com in her hand.

"Her little sister Ann Marie," Mallory explained, "Apparently, to Twyla, she's better at sports and is on her school's basketball and baseball team."

"And one of the best players and a good student," Twyla added with pride.

"And how were you in school?" Wildwing asked.

"I did pretty well, too...grade-wise, but I'd rather not brag," she answered humbly. "Anyway, Tanya, is that my new com right there?"

"Yep, here it is," she announced, handing it to her. "Now you're all set."

"All right," she cheered calmly, strapping the com on. "Thank you."

"No problem," Tanya shrugged, sitting on a couch next to Wildwing.

"If you think that toy is cool, wait until you see the other stuff we got," Nosedive said. "Duck-cycles, the Migrator, you saw the Aerowing, the multi-Puck Launcher. They're really cool."

"Sounds like it," Twyla nodded.

"Say, Twyla, what weapons and vehicles were you used to on Puck World?" Mallory asked curiously.

"The Puck Launcher, mostly, and as far as vehicles other than my Drone vessel, I learned how to pilot the small aircrafts and drive the getaway vehicles for whenever we break people out of camps. Thankfully, getting people out was always a success."

"That's great to hear," Wildwing replied sincerely, relieved that she and the others on Puck World could save as many people as possible.

"Mm-hmm," Twyla nodded, "We break in, sneak them out as best we can, and get the heck out."

"And how did they all react to a human in the Resistance?" Mallory queried.

"In the Resistance on a planet of Ducks," Tanya added.

"They were surprised, no doubt," she answered, "but they were curious and I was happy to answer their questions and teach them the Way. Actually, some of them wondered how there was a God like mine when they never heard of Him. When they asked me that, I asked them, 'How is it there's a planet called Puck World with people-like Ducks whom no one on Earth knew about except me?'"

"A very good point," Grin agreed.

"Thank you," Twyla smiled, pointing a finger at the big guy.

"So right there and then, they had to believe, huh?" Duke questioned, leaning forward on a couch between Dive and Mal.

"Yep, and though some hesitated, they all learned to accept Jesus and obey God. Every night when the day was over and when I had the time, I'd read them stories from my Bible. They were amazed to hear that the people who served God could do the impossible, and they were inspired and after reading time was over, we'd sing hymns which are songs and poems to praise God and the hymns I taught them would make them feel better."

"Sounds like you were a busy teacher," Wildwing commented.

"That I was, but I was happy to have eager students," she smiled, remembering how enthusiastic everyone on Puck World was to listen to the stories of God doing his wonders and helping everyone through hard times and how cheerful they sounded when they would sing and dance the hymns.

"Huh, and to think, the last time we left Puck World, a lot of people were about to give up hope," Mallory remarked, her expression grim when she recalled the misery her people went through at the Saurians' hands.

"Then, we leave and look who came to bring everyone's spirits up," Duke pronounced, motioning an open hand to Twyla. "The Messenger from Earth."

Twyla grinned at that and shrugged modestly. "I was happy to do what I could and happier that people accepted it."

"And we really do appreciate what you've done for everyone," Wildwing added. "We just wish we'd met you for ourselves before we came here."

"Well, better late than never, I always say," Twyla winked. "At least we've met each other now."

"That's true," Duke agreed, "And at a better time, too, especially in the mines."

"Yeah, the Saurians nearly had us for good if it wasn't for you," Mallory put in.

"I know, and I'm really glad I was able to find you in time," Twyla nodded.

"Speaking of being able to find," Wildwing spoke up, a hand on his chin, thinking, "When Dive and I were looking for anyone suspicious in one of the tunnels in that mine, a Drone caught us...and yet I couldn't detect it with the Mask when it was in the wall."

"You couldn't?" Duke asked.

"No," Wing shook his head, still in thought. To Twyla, he explained, "You see, the Mask helps me see through things and it should've helped me see the Drone hiding in the dirt wall."

Twyla nodded in understanding and thought for a second, too. "And somehow, you didn't see it with the Mask." She crossed her arms and resting a leg on her knee, murmuring, "Interesting."

"You don't think something's wrong with the Mask or was there just a lot of dirt in that tunnel?" Nosedive suggested with a shrug.

"Well, it wouldn't have mattered how much dirt was in there, little bro," Wildwing answered, "but it couldn't have been the Mask. Nothing's happened to it that I know of."

Twyla thought for a moment and had a theory. "Maybe it has something to do with how those particular Drones were built. What if Dragunus programmed them to have a cloaking signal to keep the robots hidden from anything, even the Mask itself?

"Hey, yeah, that's gotta be it," Tanya agreed. "If nothing's wrong with the Mask, then it has to be what Dragunus did to his Drones to protect themselves from being seen by you, Wildwing."

"Yeah, and remember, you were able to see Twyla in her Drone, remember?" Mallory pointed out. "_Her _robot that she took from Dragunus didn't have anything to protect its signal from you."

"That's right," Wildwing stated, "Her Drone was easy to see with the Mask. I couldn't tell that she was human because she was moving too fast when she battled the Saurians, but I knew she was a person inside a robot."

"So, in other words..." Nosedive began to say to conclude all of this.

"Dragunus is taking things seriously," Duke finished, rubbing the middle of his forehead as if he had a headache. "Oh, hate it when bad guys learn from their mistakes like that."

"Thankfully, like us, he didn't predict a new teammate would come on our side," Grin put in, to make things positive.

"Yeah, there's that," Wildwing agreed, looking at Twyla who grinned and looked away bashfully.

"Yeah..." she said, then her grin vanished into a concerned look, "but now he knows there's a new member helping you out...and no doubt he's very unhappy with that."

"Oh, yeah," Nosedive said, imagining the infuriating look on the red lizard's face and winced at the thought of it. "He's probably still roaring about that right now."

Twyla nodded and wondered if Dragunus would knew it'd be her... Although, that was unlikely. Who'd expect a human to join the Duck Resistance to help a world that wasn't hers and come to another world to save the team that disappeared a year ago?

_Still, when he does know it's me...what will he do then...?_

"Twyla, you all right?" Wildwing asked, seeing her worried expression.

"Hmm?" she blinked, "Oh, yeah... I'm just..."

Suddenly, an alarm went off and made Twyla jump in her seat, making her hold her chest like she was having a heart attack. "What's that?" she asked, looking around to see what made that noise.

"That's a Drake 1 alert," Wildwing answered as the Ducks stood up. "Something bad's going on." He came to Twyla with an extended hand and pulled her up. "Come on, it might be the Saurians."

That made Twyla forget about her startled heart immediately and followed the gang to Drake 1 where Tanya was looking up the new problem. "It's in downtown Anaheim at the..." she announced, running her fingers on the keyboard until a picture popped up on the screen with a red light glowing to show where the crisis was. "At the city bank."

Twyla sulked in disappointment. "So it's just a bank robbery?" she questioned sadly, "Not the Saurians' doing, I suspect?"

"No, Dragunus wouldn't waste his time stealing money," Wildwing replied, "but Lizard Lips or not, we gotta stop the robbery. Let's rock, Ducks."

Twyla raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat.

"And Twyla," Wildwing added, earning a grateful nod from her.

* * *

Twyla followed the Ducks to the Migrator and zoomed out of the Pond to where the bank was being robbed. Since there wasn't an extra seat for her, she stood between Wildwing and Nosedive who were riding at front, her eyes on the road, itching to get to the crime scene.

_Well, even if it's not the Saurians, at least I've got an excuse to see the town_, she shrugged, trying to think positive. _Just hope I can do well with this robbery. Then again, if I can break robots, I can help with thieves, too._

Soon, the tall white-and-gray bank came into view and Twyla could see the giant hole in the wall and she knew it was safe to know this was the right bank.

They stopped the Migrator and climbed out to see the hole with scattered bricks on the ground and a car that obviously belonged to the robbers between in an alley next to the bank.

Speaking of the robbers, the young five men in black clothes came out with heavy bags in their hands, but when they saw the Ducks waiting for them, they stopped in surprise.

"Oh, no, not them," one of them with short yellow hair whined.

"It's the Mighty Ducks," the one with shaggy black hair groaned.

"But hey, check it out, they've got a human with them, and it's a girl," the one with straight shoulder-length dyed-white hair pronounced, pointing a finger at Twyla who raised her eyebrow at annoyance at "quick observance".

"What's with her?" the bald one with a growing brown beard asked.

"I don't know," the one with nicer black hair and a small moustache shrugged, then smiled creepily, "but she's kinda cute.

Twyla cringed and frowned in disgust at his comment and she was ready to shave the moustache off him. To her surprise, Duke who was next to her, spread his arm in front of her like a shield and told the moustache guy, "Sorry, bub, you ain't her type, I assure ya."

Twyla grinned at his protective behavior and gently moved his hand, giving a grateful nod and told the better-groomed black-haired lover boy pleasantly, "He's right. If you really want to impress girls, you wouldn't do naughty things like this."

"Okay, then, I'll stop," Moustache said, dropping his bags on the ground. "Will you take me now?" he asked her excitedly.

Twyla just raised an eyebrow at this clueless Romeo-wanna-be, almost ready to tell him that just because he was willing to be honest, doesn't mean she was going to take him.

Shaggy Black growled in irritation and hit his lovesick in the shoulder with his bag. "Hey, you traitor!" he shouted! "You'd give us up just like that?"

"I'm lonely, man," Moustache whined.

"Aren't we good enough for ya?" Mr. Snow White asked, motioning his fingers to himself and the others.

Moustache looked at his partners and said bluntly, "None of you are pretty girls." His partners groaned, not believing this guy and argued with him.

"Should we capture them or watch the fun?" Nosedive asked Wildwing during their bickering. "Personally, I'd rather watch this until the end."

"No, we gotta capture them now," Wildwing denied, though he did look somewhat amused with this scene. "Let's get'em now while they're distracted."

Everyone nodded and Duke shot ropes at Brown Beard and Mr. Snow White, making them drop their bags and themselves on the ground. Mallory and Tanya did the same and caught Yellow Head and Moustache. The only left was Shaggy Black who left his tied up partners and headed for the getaway car.

"Quite a loyal partner you got there," Twyla remarked sarcastically to the astonished four robbers who looked in dismay to see their friend abandoning as he jumped in the car with the loot in his hands and started the engine. "I got this one, guys," she told her teammates, getting an idea. Quick as a flash, she pulled out her Puck Launcher and as the car moved, she shot at the tires, making the car stop and its shocked driver trapped.

"Whoa, great shot, Twyla!" Nosedive cheered, a hand on her back.

"Thanks," she replied with a grin.

"That was quick thinkin' on your part, kid," Duke complimented, ruffling her hair. "Not bad at all."

"Glad to hear it," she said, straightening her hair.

The Ducks and Twyla tied up Shaggy Black and put him with his rather miffed partners who glared at him.

"And you called me a traitor?" Moustache demanded.

"Yeah!" the rest of the robbers snapped.

Suddenly, they heard a police siren and saw an officer's car pull up to the scene of the crime. A short man with short red hair in a brown coat stepped out to see what was going on.

"Huh, well, first bank robbery I've seen in months and I miss it," he grumbled.

"Well, Captain Klegghorn, we would have waited, but we had to stop them right there and then," Wildwing told him as he and his teammates walked up to him. "Otherwise, someone could've gotten hurt."

_So this is Captain Klegghorn._ He sure looked kind of grumpy, that's for sure.

"Well, citizens need to be kept safe," the captain agreed, "but still, it wouldn't hurt if you guys would share the action a bit more."

"We'll see what we can do, cappy," Nosedive said with folded arms, then whispered to Twyla, "All he has to do is show up on time."

Cap. Klegghorn thankfully didn't hear that, but he did notice Twyla with the Ducks and asked pointing a finger at her, "And who might she be?"

"She's our new teammate," Duke answered, an arm around her shoulder.

"Teammate?" the captain echoed in confusion. "...But she's human."

The Ducks looked at her for a second and Wildwing said, "We're well aware of that. Captain, this is Twyla. Twyla, Captain Klegghorn."

"Hello, sir," Twyla greeted calmly.

"Hello..." the captain waved slowly, his curious gaze remaining. "Uh, not that I should make it any of my business or that I think it's illegal, but why is it a human is joining the Ducks?"

"It's a very long story, captain," she answered before Wildwing could, "And very complicated...but quite interesting."

"I can imagine," the captain replied.

_No, you really can't..._

"Well, I'd love to ask questions, but story time will have to wait another day," the captain pronounced going up to the robbers. "I've gotta call backup to help me take these low lifes to the slammer."

"Then we leave the rest to you," Wildwing said with a raised hand as they all headed into the Migrator.

"Hey, human lady!" Moustache called, getting Twyla's attention. "If I ever get out, can I call you?"

Twyla raised an eyebrow and simply turned around, walking straight into the Migrator without another word.

"Is that a yes or a no?" he asked, making his partners moan.

"I would have to say no," the captain answered straight forwardly. Though, he had to admit, he was very curious of this new "teammate" of the Ducks' and no doubt she did have an interesting story to tell...

* * *

On the way back to the Pond, they were discussing their previous and very short fight with the five robbers.

"We're definitely gonna use you as our secret weapon," Nosedive told Twyla who was standing between him and his brother at the front.

"Yeah, the way you shot pucks at their car's tires was very clever," Wildwing commented, making the red-haired human blush.

"Ah, well..." she gushed.

"Plus, if there are any more lover boys, we can definitely use that to distract them," Dive added, patting his hand on her arm.

"Yeah, that guy was that willing to give up just to get a date with you," Mallory added.

Twyla shuddered at the memory of his behavior towards her. "Yeah, well, I've got news for him: It ain't happenin'," Twyla stated seriously with folded arms. "Like Duke said, he's not my type."

"And you gotta give her points for good taste," Tanya said to Grin who nodded in agreement.

"And don't you worry about him, kid," Duke assured Twyla. "I'm pretty sure you won't be seein' him anytime soon."

"Hopefully," Twyla murmured. "I'm just glad that ended well."

"Yep, thanks to you," Wildwing said, patting her arm, making her grin.

"I'm just doing what I need to do," she shrugged simply. "Say, how often do crime sprees happen?"

"Every now and then," Mallory affirmed, exasperatedly. "It'd be nice if these clowns would learn after seeing us all the time."

"Well, unfortunately, most bad guys never learn," Twyla told them sadly, "At least they don't learn to make better choices with their lives. Dragunus? Oh, he learns, but he's learned to make better toys."

"And because of that, we're gonna have to start learning how to deal with his new toys if we want to win on our next battle of fun," Wildwing announced. Actually, the idea of not being able to see those Drones in the mines troubles him dearly. If Dragunus could hide cloak his robots like that...could he cloak the Raptor like that, too?

That was a horrible thing to think about. If they can't find the Raptor with the Mask...then finding them would be much, much harder and making the search for them longer.

Twyla saw his troubled look and wondered if he was concerned with the cloaked Drones...

* * *

The Mighty Ducks and Twyla got back to the Pond and went on their usual business. Twyla sat in her bedroom laying in her bed and thinking about how well things went. Sure, the guy with the moustache gave her the creeps, but at least she and her friends caught them all.

Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door. Lifting her head up, she called, "Who is it?"

"It's me Wildwing. Can I come in?"

"Oh, sure," she answered. The door opened and Wildwing stepped inside, looking troubled just as he was on the ride back.

"Wildwing, what's the matter?" she asked as he walked in front of her bed, though she could only guess what it was.

He sighed, hesitating for a moment until he answered, "It's the Drones in the mines. I couldn't see them at all and I know I could have if they were regular Drones and what you said about their signals being cloaked, it..."

"It what?" she asked, gently urging him to continue.

"It might mean that Dragunus will try to cloak the Raptor like that," he said, looking away. "He always hides in that thing and I can see through it's holographic disguises with the Mask, but if he tries hide it better like with the Drones...it'll make everything more difficult."

"Oh, I see," she understood.

Wildwing was quiet for a moment and went on, "We've been here for so long looking for him...and it's just the thought of things taking much longer to find the Saurians and getting the Dimensional Portal, finding Canard, and going home..."

Twyla could feel his anxiety and knew the troubled fear in his mind... She had an idea to comfort him and said, "I think I know what'll help. It may not seem like much to you, but like I said, if two or more in any world agree, a prayer will be answered."

She moved closer to him and extended a hand to him. "Why don't we say a prayer to God?" she suggested. "To put your mind at ease?"

Wildwing looked at her. He'd only known her for a short time, but after saving him and his team's lives yesterday and bringing them to someone who saved them even more...he learned to trust her with his life.

He nodded, took her hand, and bent down. Twyla closed her eyes and spoke, "Father in Jesus's name, Wildwing and I come to You and ask You to help put Wildwing's mind at rest. He's concerned that we may not be able to find the Raptor and he's anxious to stop the Saurians, find Canard, and go back to Puck World, but he shouldn't be feeling negative about this. He should remember all of us praying to You this morning to help us on our mission and I ask that You help reassure him that You will help us and that we will find the Saurians. You've been there for us and I believe in we can stop the evil lizards and I ask that You help my friend Wildwing believe in that, too, so he won't lose hope. Thank you, Lord. Amen."

"Amen," Wildwing repeated. When he opened his eyes, he felt a new peace inside of him. It wasn't exactly like the peace he experienced this morning, but it just felt...reassuring. He looked at Twyla who smiled at him and gave her a smile back. "Thanks," he said, a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't sweat it," she replied, patting his hand.

"And thanks again for helping stop the bank robbery," he added.

"Oh, well, it was easy. Those robbers weren't very bright, anyway. In my opinion, the best enemy is a stupid one. It helps to use their lack of knowledge to our advantage," she said matter-of-factly.

Wildwing thought for a moment and nodded. "That's a good point." They both laughed, then he said, "Well, I'll leave you alone now." He started walking out the door, waving to her, "Thanks for the prayer. It helped."

"Sure thing," she waved back. "Anytime."

Once he left, Twyla stared at her door and grinned. She'd always been fascinated in this white drake since he was best friends with Canard, but after getting to know him this far, she couldn't help feeling more fascinated.


	10. Inconvenience & Greenness

**Chapter 10: Irritating Inconvenience & Beautiful Greenness**

It'd already been two o' clock since the Mighty Ducks and Twyla stopped the rather bumbling bank robbers and Twyla felt a bit bored being in her room after listening to her music and looking at her pictures. She remembered when she'd been like this when she lived in that tower. She'd always feel depressed and lonely being all by herself from morning and afternoon.

The only salvation she had were Canard, Suzette, and Dr. Beakin. She smiled remembering how happy she'd be to see them and talk to them. She enjoyed listening to their stories of their lives and how lovely their world used to be before the Saurians came back.

Twyla, in return, would explain to them a little bit of herself and tell them the stories of God and Jesus. And teaching them the hymns and scriptures and the songs she'd play for them from her iPod.

She was always happy to see new hope in their eyes, their hearts and spirits lifted higher, their dreams and goals of being free and living peacefully alive and fresh in their minds.

Then, she frowned at the time when Canard and his team disappeared, making things lonely and sad for her, Suzette, and Dr. Beakin along with everyone who were still suffering and grieving.

However, she smiled at the thought of Bryan who found her in the tower and introduced her to Admiral McMallard who took her up as one of his students after seeing her save a little boy's life. She smiled from ear to ear when she remembered teaching them about the Way, how much stronger, wiser, and better they felt in every way.

Then she remembered after so much training for her departure for Earth, she said good-bye to her friends who'd become her family in Christ and went off on a dangerous mission, but successfully escaped, but was forced to resign and salvage for fuel in the woods for her Drone vessel.

She had little forest creatures to keep her from feeling too lonely, but had to say good-bye to them, too, and finally found the town that adopted the Mighty Ducks and saved them in the mines and was accepted in their team.

Finally having enough with this loneliness, she got up, turned her iPod off and headed out to find wherever her new teammates were. She wondered if they were on the ice in the rink playing, so she headed there, but on her way as she came across the door to the garage, she heard noises and wondered if someone was in there.

She stepped inside to see Mallory and Duke by the Migrator, its hood and door opened. "Hey, what's up?" she greeted. They turned to see Twyla who just entered and gave her a smile and a wave.

"Hey, Twyla," Mal greeted.

"Hey, kid," Duke said, ruffling her hair. It seemed to Twyla, he loved doing that, though she didn't really mind.

Straightening her hair, she asked as she stepped in the Migrator, "So, what's goin' on in here?"

When she stepped inside, she saw Tanya and Nosedive at a corner looking at a piece of paper in Tanya's hands, but when she heard the red-head human come in, she cried, "No, don't let her in!" Too late, Twyla saw a metal thing sticking out on the spot where Tanya and Nosedive was and a chair sitting against a wall.

Tanya moaned and said, "Now it won't be a surprise."

"Sorry, Tanya, we didn't it was supposed to be a surprise," Duke apologized from outside of the vehicle.

"What's supposed to be a surprise?" Twyla asked curiously.

"Might as well tell her now," Nosedive told Tanya with a shrug.

"Well, since you've seen it already," Tanya sighed, "I'm installing a seat for you in the Migrator."

"Really?" she asked with a smile, her hands wrapped together.

"Well, yeah, I mean, you wouldn't want to just stand all the time," she explained. "Not to mention, it wouldn't be safe if we took a bad turn and you're not safely strapped in. So I'm installing a seat for you for here and the Aerowing."

"We're also gonna build ya your own Duck-cycle and Glider," Mallory added.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be good if you just had to be a passenger all the time," Duke agreed.

"Well, thanks, guys," Twyla said, feeling touched.

"Don't mention it," Tanya replied, an arm around her shoulder. "After all, who wants to be inconvenienced?" Looking at Nosedive with a rather annoyed glare, she added, "It'd be more convenient if someone wouldn't bug about cup holders."

Twyla raised an eyebrow and looked at the young male blonde Duck. "Cup holders?" she repeated.

"Hey, not just for you, for all of us," Nosedive reasoned.

"We've said it once, we've said 37 times," Tanya announced loudly, "we do not need cup holders."

"Oh, come on, I mean, we carry a cooler with drinks. Why not have cup holders to...hold them in our seats?" he persisted.

"We've lived without cup holders before and we can live without them now," Tanya told him straight forwardly. "Now, please, get over it. "

"Oh, come on. Twyla, don't you think we need cup holders, too?" he asked her.

"Uh...not really," she answered, shaking her head.

Tanya grinned, patting her shoulder. "See? She doesn't think they're worth wasting time and effort," she said, stepping out of the Migrator.

"Nosedive, just let it go," Duke advised, stepping inside, leaning against doorframe.

"Yeah, a life without cup holders won't inconvenience us that much," Mallory agreed.

Then a voice outside called, "Hey, guys!"

"Speakin' of inconvenience," Duke muttered under his breath.

Twyla recognized the voice belonging to Phil whose footsteps she could hear walking up to the Migrator. "Say, have you seen Twyla anywhere? I need to talk to her."

Curious of what Phil would need from her, she started for the door, but to her surprise, Duke, in a panic, ran up to her, wrapping an arm around her and covered her mouth, moving her to the back of the Migrator. "Ask him what he wants," he whispered to Nosedive, keeping Twyla in his grip.

Nosedive nodded and poked his head out the door, asking nervously, "Uh, what for, Phil-miester?"

"Well, you see, since she's new on the team now," Phil began to explain, "I thought I'd find a way to introduce her to the world and I've come up with a few good options."

Twyla, still bewildered that she was in Duke's tight hold, wondered what kind of "good" options did he have in mind.

"I hope none of those options involve telling the world where she's from," Mallory spoke up, giving him a warning look.

"Yeah, you promised Twyla that you wouldn't say anything about her origins," Tanya reminded him.

"I know, and I'm not asking to reveal her origins," Phil reassured, "Just her place on the team. I mean, sooner or later, they'll find out she's hanging with you guys and they'll want to know her name and stuff."

_Yes, a lot of stuff. Honestly, I'd rather not explain stuff to anybody. Didn't he agree to tell folks I was just a loner who came out of nowhere to help the Ducks and that was why I was accepted in their team?_

"Yeah, stuff like who she is," Mallory pointed out, her wings folded.

"Who her family is," Tanya added.

"And they will want to know where she's from," Nosedive put in.

"Well, we can just...give them a..." Phil stammered, thinking, "A little story."

"By little story, you mean we lie," Mallory stated.

"Hey, she's the one who wants to keep her origins a secret," Phil reminded them, "I mean, wouldn't it help if we lie?"

"Uh, we don't know," Nosedive said aloud, looking at Twyla who was still in Duke's hold. "Wouldn't it help, guys?" he asked in a hinting tone, his eyes still on her.

Twyla thought for a moment. She'd already decided to keep her background a secret because she didn't trust the people here due to the possibility of some mad scientists wanting to do experiments on a girl from another Earth.

_Lying would be a good thing to do... But... Well, I don't know. I'd feel more comfortable not saying anything at all._

She felt Duke's hand move from her mouth as he leaned close to her ear whispering, "Wouldn't it, kid?"

"No, it wouldn't," she whispered back, her eyes on the floor.

Duke looked up at Nosedive and shook his head, answering silently for her. Nosedive gave a small nod of understanding and pronounced, "Well, I think we it wouldn't help lying."

"I agree," Duke called, not coming out from the Migrator, though he loosened his grip on Twyla and put reassuring hands on her arms. "Lying would probably make things worse."

"I agree," Mallory spoke up.

"Me, too," Tanya put in.

"Yeah, well, maybe you think so, but why don't we ask Twyla and see what she says?" Phil suggested.

_You already did._

"Well, she's not here, Phil!" Duke called, making Twyla look up at him in confusion.

"Yeah, but when we see her, we'll tell her about your idea," Nosedive added.

Twyla raised an eyebrow, wondering why they were lying to Phil about where she was.

"But we guarantee, she'll think it's a bad idea," Mallory added.

"Then again, you are well known for bad ideas," Tanya muttered quietly.

Phil, who didn't hear her, shrugged and said, "Okay, then, but I think she'll agree with me on this."

"Think again," she whispered bluntly to Duke who chuckled and patted her shoulders.

"I'll just return to my office, but when you guys do see her and tell her about my idea, just send her to me and we'll talk about it face-to-face," Phil requested.

"Sure thing, Phil," Nosedive called as he watched Phil leave. "Okay," he whispered to Twyla and Duke, "the coast is clear."

"Good," Duke sighed with relief, letting Twyla go at last.

"Uh, could I ask you guys something?" Twyla asked as the three stepped out of the Migrator. "Why did you grab me like that?" she said to Duke, then looking at both him and Nosedive, "And why did you tell Phil I wasn't here?"

"Because we haven't told you everything about Phil yet," Duke answered.

"What everything should I know about, pray tell?" Twyla queried.

"Well, we already told ya Phil gets us to do stupid things to make us popular with the world, right?" Nosedive asked.

"Yes," Twyla nodded.

"So we wanted to make sure you didn't become a new victim of his," Duke explained. "I mean, we haven't even begun to tell ya the embarrassments he made us go through to make us look good to the public."

"Or at least tries to make us look good," Mallory corrected, her eyes closed and a hand on her forehead as if she was having a headache.

"Yeah, tries with no success," Tanya added, rolling her eyes.

"Well, wait a minute, guys," Twyla spoke up, "If you hate Phil's suggestions to help you impress people, why haven't you told him no?"

"We have told him no," Dive answered almost loudly. "You think we haven't?"

"But when we do say no, he finds a way to make us do the dumb stuff by saying it's for charity," Duke added.

"Yeah, he usually takes advantage of our good nature with that," Mallory nodded exasperatingly, shaking her head.

"Or he'll bug us to death until we give in," Nosedive put in.

It seemed to Twyla that these guys have a hard time putting their foot down to Phil, but she didn't want to be rude saying that, although she really thought that they shouldn't let their manager get to them like this.

"Well, this Phil may be persistent and no doubt annoying," Twyla pronounced.

"You ain't kiddin' on the second part," Duke agreed straight forwardly, nodding with everyone else.

"But Mr. Palmfeather doesn't know everything about me, either," Twyla stated. "Anything he suggests and I don't think it, I can say no and not knuckle under. You see, guys, I have a thing called iron clad will that cannot be so easily broken, and I'm not just saying it. When my mind is made up, there's no changing it."

"Is that so?" Mallory questioned.

"That's right," she nodded, turning around, her hands on her hips, "so no matter what your manager says, if it's something I'm not gonna agree with, I will stand my ground and tell him no."

"You sound confident," Duke remarked, rubbing his lower beak with his index finger and thumb. "Then again, we don't know everything about you yet ourselves."

"That's right," she replied, her head turned to them, giving them a reassuring grin.

"Well, if you're sure, but don't say we didn't warn ya," Nosedive told her.

"I won't, but sooner or later I'm gonna have to talk to Phil because I honestly don't want to be dishonest about myself. I mean, I've already made up my mind that I'm not telling anyone else here where I'm from, but I don't want to be a liar about it. I'd rather be mostly, you know, silent about it. It's not lying if you're not saying anything, right?"

"That's true," Mallory agreed.

"But if people do have questions," Twyla went on, "they're gonna have to talk to me about it because no one talks about my background but me and me alone. And whatever answers I give them, will be true, but I'll only give them little information."

"I see, so you'll answer their questions honestly, but you won't get into the details," Tanya deduced.

"Right."

"Well, kid, if that's okay with you," Duke told her, a hand on her shoulder, "As long as you know what's best."

Twyla nodded in gratitude at their understanding and their protectiveness towards her to save her from Phil's humiliating ideas. Like a team, they look after each other and had each other's backs.

* * *

As she left and bid the four good-bye, she headed towards the kitchen since she was hungry and made a little sandwich. When she ate, she thought about what to do next after this. It was already 12:45 and she didn't know what else to do.

_Maybe I'll just go chill on the roof or somethin'._

Once lunch was over and she washed her plate, she started leaving the kitchen and met Wildwing in the hallway.

"Well, hello," she greeted with a smile.

"Hey," he greeted back. "What've you been up to?"

"Just had lunch. Now I'm goin' on the roof. Not much to do."

"Yeah, other than the bank robbery that ended very quickly, it is kind of a slow day," Wildwing agreed. "Oh, uh, by the way, you should know something: Phil's asked me where you were because..."

"I know," she interrupted, explaining to him that Phil wanted to speak to her about how to reveal her to the world without telling them her secret, and how Duke, Mal, Tanya, and Dive kept her hidden from him, should he try to trick her into doing something stupid. Although, after he left, she assured them she could stand her ground if and when she sees Phil.

"And you'd rather if people talk to you about yourself?" Wildwing queried when she'd finished.

"Well, who else should tell anyone about me?" she asked.

"I guess I can understand, but whatever little information you give them, they'll still be curious."

"Yeah, well, they can accept that. I've learned that some mysteries in life are best left unknown and left alone."

"And yet you didn't mind revealing yourself to everyone on Puck World?"

"Hey, I trust you all. I just don't trust anyone here. You see, the thing is: I know the bad nature of my kind, so I've always been careful around them."

"I see..." he sympathized in thought. "Does that mean you don't trust any of the people in your world, either?"

"Just my family and friends. Others I don't know..." She shrugged. "I've always been taught to be very careful with strangers."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," Wildwing replied, a hand on her shoulder. "Person's got to be on their guard. However, just like not all humans are good or bad, it's the same thing with Ducks and other aliens out there. Like you told us yesterday, you've got your good and you've got your bad."

"That's true..." she said, looking away, "Still...I have trust issues with my kind. I know there are a lot of good people out there who believe in the good things that I do... It's just hard to tell because you can't read their thoughts and you don't know if they're acting."

"You're right," he nodded, "it's very hard to tell what goes on inside their minds and if what they say or do is true, but if you take the time and carefully observe their actions, you learn you can trust them. If a human like you can easily accept us and be willing to risk her life for us, then there's hope for both Earths."

Twyla smiled, knowing he was right. She'd still have a hard time trusting her people though, but if she could take a chance to trust people-like Ducks, maybe she could dare to trust her kind, too. Maybe.

"Say," he said, getting her attention. "if you're bored, mind if I show you something?"

"Okay, what?" she asked curiously.

"The town," he answered, offering his hand.

Tilting her head in curiosity, she took his hand and let him lead the way.

* * *

Wildwing took Twyla on a tour of Anaheim, showing her where the local stores were. The comic book shop, the mall, the fast-food joints, the drug store, and the grocery store.

"It's kinda a big town, but when you take the time to visit often, it gets easy to know which is where," he explained as they left the grocery store. "So, is Anaheim impressive, so far?" he asked.

"It's okay," she shrugged. "It's really too early to say."

"Well, is there something you'd like to see?" he offered.

Twyla took a moment to think. "Hmm... Is there a park anywhere?"

"I think so," he answered. "Come on." They took a few turns past the drug store and the movie theater until they found the big park, taking the walkway and found an open area with a pond and some families having fun in the afternoon sun.

Twyla smiled at the sight of the green leaves fluttering in the breeze, landing on the heads of the giggling children whose parents happily swept their heads, and the sun's light dazzling in the surface of the pond, making it look like stars.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked Wildwing.

Wildwing grinned at the wonderful sight and nodded. "Sure is. You know, even though Puck World never had greenery like this, it did have families and friends having fun, smiling, laughing, as if they didn't have a care in the world."

The white drake was silent and Twyla could tell what he was thinking. One minute, his people were happy go-lucky, and the next thing, intergalactic evil reptiles come and take it all away...

She put a hand on his arm, making him look at her and seeing a reassuring smile on her face. "And it can have all of that again," she promised. She could barely tell, but she could've sworn he was blinking at her through the Mask, giving her a grin and laid a hand on hers.

"Yeah..." he nodded, "God willing."

Twyla grinned back and led him through the park so they could enjoy the sights. She had to admit, Wildwing did remind her a bit of Canard. They were just as willing to obey God and accept Jesus and they both cared a lot about others. She could see why they were best friends.

As they kept walking, Wildwing asked her, "Say..."

"Hmm?" she replied, giving him her attention.

"Do you think you can...?" he asked, feeling just a tad shy to give her his request.

"I can what?" she asked, gently urging him to say what he wanted to say.

"Do you think you can read to us some stories from the Bible?" he asked finally.

Twyla blinked in amazement and could hardly hold back her excitement. "Would you like me to?"

"Well, we do wanna know more about God," he told her, "And you've read the Bible to everyone back home. So we should listen stories from your book, too."

"Well..." she said, looking away, taking only a second to think, then excitedly answered, "All right. When would you like me to read to you all?"

"If we're not doing anything, no missions or plans, six o' clock would be good."

"Then it's settled," she calmly cheered. "Oh, you guys are gonna love the stories. Granted, a lot of them are very sad, but they get much better afterwards."

"Can't wait to hear them," he replied. Actually, he was kind of looking forward to hearing the tales of God and what He did for His creations... Although, honestly, he wondered again why no one had heard of God when Puck World was made. Surely someone from a long time ago when the world was born knew. But if they did, wouldn't they have kept a book like the Bible for generations to read...?

* * *

(Sorry if this wasn't very exciting. I've got a bit of a writer's block, but I will do my best. If you guys have suggestions, please share. God bless.)


	11. Telling Stories of Forgivness and Flaws

**Chapter 11: Telling Stories of Forgiveness and Flaws**

Shortly after Wildwing and Twyla came back to the Pond, they asked everyone if they had plans around six because Twyla had agreed to read them stories from the Bible. They all said they didn't have anything planned so at appointed time after dinner, Twyla came into the living room with her Bible.

The Ducks listened intently as she read the stories of Abraham and his promise from God of how He would give Abraham and his descendants a land belonging to them for generations to generations and when Twyla read the part where after Abraham's son Isaac was born, her teammates were shocked and amazed to hear what God asked of Abraham to sacrifice his beloved boy, but He told the father not to hurt his son because what the Lord really wanted was to see if Abraham would trust and obey Him no matter what.

She then read them the part where Isaac's twin sons Jacob and Esau were born, and Jacob tricked their father into letting him have the firstborn's right to be leader since he was born after Esau and how the younger brother fled for his life when Esau found out what'd happened.

Jacob was lost for a while, but heard God telling him He would keep him safe and be with him, which made Jacob grateful and put a rock in the place where God spoke to him and dubbed it Bethel which means "God's House."

She then explained that after Jacob married Rachel, and other women, who'd all given birth to Jacob's 12 sons, he packed up his family and headed back to see Esau after so many years, but first Jacob send his family and servants off without him so he could be alone and think of what to say and do when he saw the brother he'd deceived and cheated.

Then Twyla read the part where a stranger came out of nowhere and fought Jacob all night long until the stranger put a hand on Jacob's hip that made him stop and he knew that his foe was no ordinary man. The stranger renamed him Israel and told him that his long life of struggle was over and that he'd won his own battle.

Jacob knew it was God who'd spoken to him and praised the Heavenly Lord and rejoined his family again. After sending presents to Esau to make up for his wrong doings, the big brother came to meet Jacob, and instead of attacking him, he hugged him, happy to see him again and forgave him for what he'd done to him and Jacob was overjoyed to be friends with his brother once again, even though they had to part ways because they had their own lives to lead now.

Once she was finished and closed the Bible, Twyla said to her friends, "You see, guys, a lesson about obedience, trust, and forgiveness. Abraham trusted God with all of his heart and because of that, he and his wife, even though they were elderly, God blessed them with their son Isaac whom He seemingly asked Abraham to sacrifice, even though it was never His plan for the father to take his son's life, but to show Abraham if you trust and obey God, He will keep His promises, which He did and, years later, blessed Isaac and his wife twins sons. And forgiveness between the two brothers was a very good thing. Yes, I know Jacob did a despicable thing, but Jacob was sorry for his wrong deed and I believe after distance from his little brother, Esau kept his love for Jacob and learned to forgive him, thus bringing restoring their brotherly friendship."

The Ducks were intrigued and in wonder of the lessons they'd just learned. With that, Twyla thanked them for listening to the Bible's stories and bid them farewell and decided to go on the roof. It was past sundown and Twyla leaned back with her hands behind her and looked at the lovely stars above her.

She closed her eyes as the cool breeze touched her freckled face and she pulled her scrunchy off her long hair and let it flow in the wind. "Man, it's been so long since I had the opportunity to relax like this," she told herself quietly. Between staying in that tower on Puck World to working endlessly in the Resistance, doing this sort of thing was never an option except in the woods where she did have a little bit of time to enjoy this.

She laid down on the floor, her hands behind her head and her leg resting on the other. "It feels good to chill."

Suddenly, the roof door opened and Twyla sat up to see Mallory coming through. "Ah, there you are," Mallory pronounced seeing her human teammate.

"Here I be," she replied, "How may I help you?"

"Well, I was lookin' for ya and Duke thought maybe you'd be up here," she answered, sitting next to her.

"Yep, just thought I'd enjoy the view he introduced to me earlier," she said, bringing her knees to her chest, looking at the city lights and the stars above. "But what were you lookin' for me for?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I was thinkin' if you have any clothes other than these," Mallory said, touching the clothes Twyla was wearing.

"Unfortunately, these are all I have," she answered hesitantly. "Bringing extra clothes wasn't exactly what I thought I would need on the way to this world."

"Right," Mal replied, wiping her fingers on the side of her upper leg, "so you've been wearin' those..."

"These clothes for days," she finished, not looking at her. "Believe me, I'm not happy about it, either."

"Well, in that case, how about you, Tanya, and I go shopping tomorrow and see if we can get you some new clothes?" she suggested.

"Yeah?" she replied, liking the sound of new, clean clothes. "Hang on, how will I pay for it?"

"You just let me worry about that," Mallory told her. "I don't mind."

"Well...okay," she shrugged. Although, she really didn't feel comfortable with people going through the trouble for her like that, but she didn't argue any further. "And I suppose it'll be fun," she added, leaning back against the floor, her hands behind her head, "A little girls' day out."

"Exactly," Mallory agreed. She took a strand of Twyla's hair and asked, "Say, is this what your hair looks like when it's down? It looks nice."

"Thanks. I get that a lot."

"I'll bet," Mal replied, "Nice and long, not a bad texture. Makes me want your hair."

"Well, in that case, I'd better lock my door," she teased, gently pulling her hair from her. "Should anyone come in with scissors while I'm asleep."

"Don't worry," she grinned, "Hair like that shouldn't be touched. I'll just grow mine a bit longer."

"Fair enough. By the way, did you, yourself, like story time?" she asked, wanting her opinion.

"It was very interesting," she answered, lying down looking at the stars. "I have to admit, I was very worried when God had asked Abraham to kill his son."

"Not as worried and scared as Abraham was," Twyla put in, "but he was more than relieved that God told him to stop before he could harm the boy. You see, God in the Old Testament that I'm reading to you all now, He'd never want human sacrifice. He just wanted Abraham's limitless trust and obedience. I know the test was...heartbreaking, but you know, the Lord works in mysterious ways."

"Clearly," she agreed quietly, her eyes in the sky. "It would've been good to know there was a Lord like that at all. How come we never heard of Him?"

"I wish I knew," Twyla shrugged, looking at the stars herself, "Well, like I always say, better late than never."

However, Mallory looked away, not feeling convinced. Even though she believes there's a God, to her, it still would've been good to have known about the Heavenly Lord from the beginning...

"What a day this has been, huh?" Twyla asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Mm-hmm," Mallory nodded, "One we won't forget in a hurry."

Twyla smiled, knowing that she didn't mean the robbery at all and looked back at the stars, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

Twyla awoke early that morning around 6:00 and decided to get herself dressed already. She wasn't supposed to leave with her female teammates 'til 9:30, so she tried to find some time to kill. She went into the training hall and after seeing how to work the simulators when she saw Mallory yesterday, her targets cardboard Drones popped out, daring her to shoot them with her best shot.

She grinned and with a deep breath of concentration, she turned on her rocket skates and zoomed through the coarse, shooting her targets with good precision, feeling joyous that she shot down almost all of her targets.

"Be nice if I could use those Saurians as target practice for a change," she told herself aloud, holding up her Puck Launcher.

Suddenly, she saw three figures standing in front of her and her eyes were wide with shock to see the three Saurians whom she saved her teammates from in the mines. "You guys again!" she shouted, getting her P.L. ready. "Well, this is a wish granted. Have at you!"

She started shooting pucks at the three lizards, but to her surprise, they went right through them...as if they were ghosts. No...holographic.

"What the heck...?" she asked herself in bewilderment.

"Was that target practice good enough?" a male voice queried at the other side of the coarse. Twyla narrowed her eyes to see Wildwing with a device in his hand.

"Wildwing? How'd in the world did you do that?"

"This thing," he answered, holding up the little white gadget with a gray round button for her to see. "It's a Holo-target generator. It makes holograms of people such as the Saurians."

"I've noticed," she replied bluntly. She walked back to the finish line and pointed her P.L. playfully at the white drake. "And please don't ever do that again," she warned with a giggle. "You scared me, man."

"I'm sorry," he said, holding his hands up in a playful surrender, "but I heard you saying you were bored with the cardboard, so I thought..." He shook the H.T. Generator to clarify.

"You could freak me out with holograms of the lizards," she finished with a raised eyebrow and her arms folded.

"Not freak out," he corrected, sounding as if he was grinning, "More like give you a good motivation."

"Well, it was a motivation," she scoffed, "but it wasn't a good one. And you're lucky that you're wearing armor and a Mask to protect you from my pucks, goal master."

"Goal master?" he echoed.

"Well, I keep hearing what a good goalie you are, so I've always referred to you as goal master. The point is," she said, giving another wag of her P.L., "Don't do try to 'motivate' me like that again."

"All right, whatever keeps you from shooting," he told her calmly. "But really, what made you wake up at this time?"

"I'm an early riser, remember?"

"Right."

"And you? What woke you up?"

"Ah, just felt like it," he shrugged, "but when I came across the training hall door, I heard some noises and I found you in here. I have to tell ya: You're about as good as Mallory at this."

"Well, it was thanks to her dad," she put in, grinning modestly. "Say, you wanna run through the coarse with me? See who makes the most shots?"

"Sure, since we're both here."

"Great."

Once new targets popped up from the floors and walls, both Wildwing and Twyla zoomed across the room shooting as many carboards as they could. Wildwing took a quick glance at Twyla's movements and was impressed by how well she was dashing and shooting. He had to admit, Mallory's dad did a good job wit her.

They kept shooting at the cardboards until they reached the finish line and panted to catch their breath.

"Well," Twyla huffed, "let's see how we did." They walked back to the starting line counting the targets they hit. "Okay, that's 15 for me. You?"

"Sixteen."

"Wow, you won by a point," she replied, impressed by his shooting, then dipped her head. "Congrats."

"Thank you," he nodded back. "You did pretty good, too. I was just lucky."

"At least we earned more points than we did when we were playin' air hockey," Twyla pointed out. "We only got one point each. "

"True."

"Say, do you guys often take turns cooking for everyone?" she asked curiously, "Or do you guys make stuff for yourselves?"

"We take turns. Why?"

"I was just thinkin' of cookin' myself this mornin'," she replied, shyly. "I mean, I've cooked well for everyone on Puck World, so you won't have to worry about anything."

"Well, that's good news and if you want to, go ahead," he welcomed, "Do you mind if I help?"

"No, come on," she replied, motioning her head for him to follow.

They headed for the kitchen where Twyla had started making pancakes while Wildwing did the toast. Once breakfast was ready, and the table was set with pancakes, toast, and the cartons of juice and milk, Wildwing and Twyla looked to admire their and each other's.

"Well, the pancakes look good, Twyla," Wildwing commented.

"Thanks. So's the toast."

Wildwing looked at the time on his wrist com to see it was 7:00. "The others should be up any minute," he announced. "We might as well wait."

When they sat down next to each other, Twyla felt a little nervous at the silence between them until she looked up and saw him take his Mask off. She remembered him doing that yesterday morning at breakfast, though she didn't pay much attention last time.

Wildwing noticed her looking at him and she apologized. "Sorry, never took the time to see what you look like without the Mask."

"It's okay," he assured. "Normally, I take the Mask off when I'm eating or sleeping. Other than that, I rarely keep it off."

"I see." She had to admit...he wasn't bad looking without the Mask. "Kinda like how I rarely let my hair down. Since I'm getting used to your mask-less face..." She took off her scrunchy for him to see her long red hair covering her back. "...might as well get used to seeing my hair loose."

"Wow," he remarked, amazed to see how lovely her hair looked. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

"Thank you," she nodded gratefully.

"When do you usually let it down?"

"Whenever I feel like it, really, except when I'm eating or when I'm on a mission and I need my hair out of my eyes... Or when I feel like showin' off," she confessed. That made Wildwing chuckle. "Hey, even I like attention every once in a while."

"I understand," he sympathized, the grin still on his face which was much easier to see without the Mask. "Do you often get compliments for your hair?"

"Yeah, mostly from my mom and grandma and sometimes in school and once in a while, when I go out."

"That reminds me, aren't you going shopping with Mallory and Tanya today?" he queried.

"Mm-hmm, we're going at 9:30."

"Well, hope it'll be fun for you ladies."

"Thanks, me, too."

Suddenly, the door opened and they looked to see the rest of their comrades stepping inside the mess hall.

"Morning, everybody," Twyla greeted cheerfully, waving to them.

"Hey, you two," Duke greeted back, then looked at the table. "I see you guys got breakfast started," he observed.

"Whoa, looks good," Nosedive remarked, his beak watering at the sight of it.

"Well, Twyla did most of the work making the pancakes," Wildwing explained, a hand on her shoulder. "All I did was make toast."

As everyone took their seats, Duke saw Twyla's hair and gently pulled a strand of it up. "Say, kid, is this what your hair looks like?"

"Yeah, but please take a quick look 'cause I prefer it pulled back before I eat," she advised, pulling her hair on her shoulders for her friends to see.

"Whoa, look at that shining redness," Dive commented.

"Thanks," Twyla replied.

"That's what I call hair," Tanya added.

"Yeah, I saw it down last night, but seeing it in this light, it looks more impressive than ever," Mallory put in.

"Aw, guys, stop," Twyla asked bashfully, swinging her hand. "My face is gonna be as red as my hair." As she pulled her hair back, she motioned her hand to the food. "Anyway, please dig in. Hope you guys like it."

Twyla waited to eat her plate to see what her friends thought of the pancakes. She felt a twinge of suspense when they each took a bite and their faces lit up in satisfaction.

"Whoa, kid, this is good," Duke commented.

"Really?" Twyla asked in delight.

"Truly a culinary masterpiece," Grin added. That made Twyla blush right there and look away.

"Oh, now her face is as red as her hair," Nosedive said, seeing Twyla's facial skin changing color.

Twyla just shrugged and grinned. "Anyone can make pancakes," she stated bashfully.

"I disagree," Wildwing replied. "You noticed I only made the toast and not help you with the pancakes? It wasn't because I didn't want to help you when you were doing most of the work, but because I'm not all that good with making pancakes."

"That's for sure," Nosedive nodded. "Every time he tries to make pancakes, he pours in and spills it all over the stove or he'll put in too much batter in the pans and the pancakes are the size of tires."

"Thank you so much for explaining that, baby brother," Wildwing said sarcastically, glaring at his sibling, digging his fork in his breakfast. "Couldn't have said it better myself," he muttered.

"Well, you do, bro," Nosedive insisted.

"Yeah, well, I may be bad at making pancakes, but at least when I make toast, they don't turn out overdone or burned to a crisp," Wildwing pointed out bluntly, looking at young Nosedive.

"Hey, I could do better if you guys would let me practice with the toaster more," Nosedive pouted.

"After you broke the toast twice and I had to fix it, forget it," Tanya denied.

"Don't sweat it, Nosedive," Duke assured the male blonde drake, "We can't master everything in the kitchen."

"That's for sure," Mallory agreed, "I remember when you tried to make crepes once."

"Oh, yeah," Tanya said, thinking back, "The kitchen was a mess."

"Well, crepes are hard to make, so that's no surprise," Twyla put in. "It takes a lot of practice to get used to making them right."

"And I could've had more practice," Duke chimed in, cutting his pancakes, "but no, you guys don't let me do that."

"Not unless you do it in a kitchen of your own," Wildwing concluded, eating his pancakes, "'cause we'd rather have one too many messes in ours."

"You should've seen what he looked like when we found him making that stuff the first time," Mallory told Twyla, "He had crepe cream all over his face and hair."

"Yeah, it wasn't much fun washin' the crepe out of my do," Duke sighed, fingering his brown and slightly gray hair.

"It wasn't much fun washing the crepe off of the kitchen walls, either," Mal put in. "That's why we banned him from crepe-making."

"Ah, criticism," Duke remarked, shaking his head, "You just gotta love it."

That made Twyla giggle and pat the eldest Duck's shoulder. "Well, no one's perfect," she comforted.

"It's best to just embrace your flaws," Grin added, eating his pancakes.

"Unless it's messy," Tanya finished.

"By the way, you remember we're leaving at 9:30 to go shopping, right?" Mal reminded Twyla.

"Yes, I do," Twyla answered.

"A little girls' day out?" Duke queried.

"Yeah, we're going to find some clothes for Twyla," Mallory explained.

"Hopefully, the mall will have something she'll like," Tanya added.

"Yeah, just need seven shirts and jeans," Twyla put in. "Somethin' to last each week."

"Well, hope you find something good over there," Wildwing said.

"Thanks."

After breakfast was over and two hours later at 9:30, the girls bid "see you later" to the boys and made their way downtown.

"Say, Twyla?" Mal said.

"Hmm?" Twyla hummed, giving Mallory her attention.

"If you eat with your hair pulled back, why was it down when we all came in?" the red-haired Duck asked curiously.

"Well, when Wildwing and I were waiting for you guys, I noticed he took off his Mask and he explained how he rarely takes it off," she explained. "And I said I rarely ever take my hair scrunchy off, so I let him see for himself what this hair of my mine looks like."

"You let him see for himself?" Tanya questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Twyla asked with a shrug.

"Nothing," the blonde female Duck replied, looking away, but little did Twyla know, she had a little smirk on her face and asked, "What did he think about it, though?"

"He said it wasn't bad at all," she answered, pulling her ponytail over her shoulder for her to twirl around her fingers.

"And...mind if I ask what made you two get up so early?" Mallory asked with a tone that sort of made Twyla suspicious.

"Well, when I woke up around six, I started doing my target practice in the training hall by my lonesome and then Wildwing came in to join me..." Then an annoyed look crossed her face. "after scaring me with that... What do you call it? Holo-target Generator."

"Oh, that thing?" Mallory said with a click of her tongue, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, he scared us with that thing, too."

"Yeah, scared her and Duke and made them destroy my lab when they saw those holograms of the Saurians," Tanya added, shaking her head at the memory of the broken glass and debris all over the place. "I've really got to get that thing back from him and lock it up."

"Yeah, but I don't think he'll do it much ever again," Twyla reassured. "I sorta threatened to shoot him with my Puck Launcher for scaring me like that. Only a little," she said, bringing her index finger and thumb an inch away from each other.

"I don't blame you," Mallory replied with a grin. "So after that, Wildwing joined you in your training?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "We played a round to see who could shoot the most targets. He won by one point, but we still had fun."

When Twyla wasn't looking, Mallory and Tanya both had a curious thought in their heads, but said nothing as they took Twyla for what they would call a mall crawl. Twyla had to say, she didn't do much shopping with friends, so she was glad to do it today and she felt a little bit excited...

For some reason, she couldn't help remembering Wildwing's cheerful face without the Mask and she didn't know why...but she made a very small grin at the memory of that...

* * *

(Hey, guys, I'm really sorry this took so long. I'm havin' a terrible case of writer's block, but I will continue to do my best. If you guys have suggestions, please comment and review. God bless.)


	12. Lives and Skies

**Chapter 12: Lives & Skies**

When the girls got to the Anaheim Mall, Twyla picked out large seven T-shirts which she explained to the girls she'd like to have them in that size in case they shrink in the washer which they both understood, and she picked good jeans and tried them all on and after successful fitting tests, her new clothes were paid for. So afterward, the girls sat at a café called Happy Café on a patio outside, basking in the sunlight and chatted a bit.

"So you satisfied with your new clothes?" Mallory asked, having black coffee.

"Yeah, everything's cool," Twyla replied, sipping her chocolate milk. She knew it might've seemed childish, but she didn't care. Chocolate was always good to her and she never liked things coffee-related drinks.

"From your choice in clothes, we noticed you don't favor skirts or dresses," Tanya observed with her java.

"No, I do not," Twyla answered straight forwardly. "I'm a tomboy, so frilly clothes have never been my cup of chocolate milk, if you know what I mean," she winked, holding up her drink, which made them grin.

"Well, as long as you like your clothes," Mallory pronounced, sipping her coffee.

"So tell us about yourself," Tanya said.

"Yeah, like for instance, what is life like for you where you're from?" Mallory put in.

"Well, it's really not much to talk about," Twyla confessed. "Life's not dramatic for me, but it's not very exciting. Currently, I'm in college and I'm majoring in photography and writing. You see, I love taking pictures and I like writing stories. So far, I'm doing well."

"That's good to hear," Mallory remarked. "At least you're keeping busy."

"What do you do when you're not in school?" Tanya asked curiously.

"In my spare time, I listen to music a lot. And I write stories of my own and when I go out, I take pictures, so it's good practice for me."

"What do you take pictures of?" Mallory asked.

"Mostly nature and animals, so I go to parks, pet shops, beaches, and stuff."

"Okay," Tanya nodded, "Now when you write stories, what are they mostly about?"

"Well, mostly fantasy novels 'cause I like to daydream and I thought I might as well put my fantasies in a book for others to read. And I like to write about romance."

"Ah, so you're a romantic," Mallory observed.

"Yeah," Twyla answered bashfully, "but let's not get into that. Anyway, and I like to write about adventure and some comedy just to make it more interesting."

"Nothing wrong with that," Tanya said, "In fact, if you like adventure and comedy..."

"Then we're the right inspiration for you," Mallory finished. "'Cause we're all about adventure and comedy."

"Glad to hear that," Twyla smiled. "Of course, writing stories about that would be more like biography."

"True," the female ducks said at the same time.

"Now tell me about yourselves," Twyla asked, resting her chin on the back of her fingers, her elbow on the table. "What's life like for you all?"

"For me, I train a lot in the academy," Mallory answered, "So I work most of the time. In my spare time, I like to shop which may be unusual for a military woman, but..."

"Hey, military people can socialize and have fun, too," Twyla assured. "Nothin' wrong with that."

Mallory grinned at her understanding.

"And you, Tanya?" Twyla asked the blonde Duck.

"Well, my job is mostly my hobby," Tanya explained. "I invent gadgets and stuff. Other than that, well, the only other thing I do is play hockey."

"Which is what we all do on Puck World," Mallory added.

"Yeah, I heard that you skate when you go out since the streets are icy," Twyla commented. "It's supposed to be...very, very cold over there," she said grimly, "So I've been told."

"You've been told right," Tanya replied.

"Why, do you not like the cold?" Mallory asked.

"Actually, I hate it," Twyla admitted, turning on the side of her seat. "You see, unlike you guys, I'm not used to the cold. Being born in a desert and all."

"Ah, we see," Mallory pronounced.

"Then you would've hated it on Puck World," Tanya claimed, "'Cause it'd be freezing to you."

"About colder than...what's it called...?" Mallory asked, trying to think of the name of the place on Earth. "The Arctic."

"Or the North Pole as some of you on Earth would like to call it," Tanya put in.

"Then you're right, I would hate it," Twyla said. "Cold and I do not get along."

"That's too bad," Mallory thought aloud.

"Well, it is what it is," Twyla shrugged, then she took a glance to see the people walking on the sidewalks. It felt very weird to be among humans again, being surrounded by Ducks for so long. She also remembered the disappointment of finding out this was not her birth Earth. She would've liked to see her friends and family since she's been gone such a long time.

Mallory and Tanya noticed her sad look and Mal asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Yeah, you look a little upset," Tanya added.

Twyla felt shy to tell them, but she decided to be open. After all, they themselves have a world they missed a lot. "I was just thinking of my friends and family back at home..." she explained, not looking at them in the eye. "I was really looking forward to coming to Earth and seeing them again, but..."

The female Ducks looked at each other and smiled in sympathy. "We understand," Mallory said, putting a hand on her human teammate's shoulder.

"Yeah, we of all people know what it's like to miss our homes and loved ones," Tanya agreed, a hand on her other shoulder.

Twyla grinned, appreciating their understanding. Even though these guys remember how they came to this Earth, the Mighty Ducks themselves never had the chance to say good-bye to their friends and families, either. The good thing for Twyla was at least she was able to say good-bye to her Puck World friends before coming here.

Both female Ducks pulled their hands away from Twyla and returned to their drinks. Unfortunately, Mallory's cup of coffee accidentally slipped from her fingers and as she got up, startled and aggravated, most of the coffee spilled on the table and the rest of it found its way on her knees, but thankfully she was wearing pants that protected her feathered skin.

"Oh, that's just great," Mallory grumbled, looking at her stained pants. "Just great."

"Well, now we've got a mess," Tanya pronounced, getting up from the wet table, standing next to a ticked-off Mallory to look at her pants.

"Well, no use crying over spilled coffee, right?" Twyla joked, getting not so amused glances from the bird girls.

"Very funny," Mallory muttered.

"Sorry," Twyla shrugged.

"Here, I'll help you get the stain out," Tanya said to Mallory. "Let's go to the girls' room."

"Okay, while you two get the stain out of Mallory's pants," Twyla called as they walked inside, "I'm gonna get some napkins to clean this table up."

"Okay," the girls called back, Mallory grumbling some more and Tanya patting her shoulder in reassurance.

Twyla pulled out the napkins and started wiping the spilled coffee. "Well, it could've been worse," she said to herself as she cleaned, "That coffee still would've been steaming hot and then she'd really have something to get upset about."

After she was done cleaning up, Twyla sat back down and drank the rest of her chocolate milk, waiting for her friends to come back. The wind started to blow, so she decided to let her hair loose, closing her eyes as the breeze moved her hair in the wind.

However, she didn't relax long when she heard a cry that made her open her eyes to see a long black-haired woman across the street who must've tripped and fell, the contents of her purse all over the place. Next to her was her baby in a stroller and while his mother was collecting her things back in her bag, she accidentally pushed the stroller back on the street, making her cry in surprise.

As the stroller rolled and stopped in the middle of the street, a car started to pull up, but to Twyla, she could see the driver was holding his cell phone to his ear, not even paying attention to the road.

Twyla panicked, and jumped over the patio fence, running as fast as her feet could carry her, praying to God to please help her save the child. The mother screamed when she saw the car pulling up, fearing her baby would be run over, but as soon as Twyla came to the stroller, she picked up the black-haired bundle and as the car came dangerously closer, she jumped out of the way, and rolled on the other side of the street, the baby crying in her guarding arms.

Twyla panted, her heart beating fast in adrenaline at that scene. She looked to see the baby still crying in her hold, scared of what'd just happened.

"Hey," she said gently, "don't cry. You're okay."

When Mal and Tanya came back outside to the patio, they looked in surprise that their human friend wasn't at their table anymore.

"Where'd Twyla go?" Mallory asked, looking left to right.

Then they heard a commotion and saw a crowd on the other side of the street gathering around Twyla, her back on the sidewalk and a baby in her arms.

"What just happened?" Tanya asked.

"Let's find out," Mallory said, leading the way to the exit.

The baby's mother walked up with tears in her eyes. "My baby," she sobbed.

"It's okay, ma'am," Twyla assured her nicely, "He's okay."

His mother gratefully took the baby and hugged him and kissed him, tears still coming down her eyes. "Thank you," she said to Twyla. "Thank you so much. You saved his life."

"You're welcome," Twyla nodded, getting up. "Just please be more careful."

"I will," the mother vowed, "I promise I will."

Twyla watched in relief that the baby boy was smiling, happy to be in his mother's arms again. Then she saw her female Duck teammates coming up to her.

"Well, what kept ya?" she asked playfully.

"Never mind what we've been doing," Mallory replied.

"Yeah, what the heck happened here?" Tanya asked.

Before Twyla answered, she saw the driver coming out to see he hit a stroller with that stupid cell phone in his hand. Angry at his carelessness, she marched up to him to give him a piece of her mind.

"Hey!" she hollered, getting his attention, which she wished he used on his driving. "What the heck were you doing, sir?" she demanded, her hands on her hips. "You almost hit a baby."

The spiky blonde-haired guy's eyes widened in shock when he looked at the stroller. "Don't worry, the baby's safe with his mother," she assured dryly, indicating her thumb to the overjoyed woman and her child.

The driver sighed with relief, but she wasn't going to let him get off the hook that easily. "Sir, why were you talking on your cell phone?" she asked, lowering her voice. "Didn't you learn that your hands should be on the wheel and your eyes and attention on the road at all times?"

"I-I'm sorry," he stammered, "I was just..."

"There's a reason why we shouldn't be busy with our phones while we drive, sir," Twyla went on, calmly, "Because when you don't watch where you're goin' behind the wheel, you could seriously hurt yourself or other people and what you did today just proves it. Don't you realize that that poor woman could've lost her child? Suppose someone ran over the person you care about because of they were busy talking on the cell phones. Wouldn't you be upset, huh?"

The spiky-haired guy looked at the ground, feeling ashamed at his actions and looked at the cell phone that could've made him a murderer just now. He shook with guilt and threw the phone in his car.

"You're obviously sorry for what you did," Twyla said, gently, "but if you should apologize to anyone, it should be the baby's mom."

The golden-haired driver looked at the woman, then picked up the stroller and hesitantly walked towards her. The mother looked up to see the man in front of her, looking very guilty.

"I..." he said, trying to find the right words. "I..." He closed his eyes and spit it out. "I'm sorry. I should've looked where I was going. If it wasn't for her," he said, motioning his head to Twyla, "you would've lost your son." The man looked away, afraid to look at the woman in the eye.

The woman looked away herself, not knowing what to say, either. Her son could've been gone from her life forever because of him. Twyla stepped in next to the man and said to her, "He really is sorry for what he did. And he's learned his lesson. And your son is safe. Can't you find it in your heart to forgive him?"

The black-haired woman blinked at her and looked at the man who looked at the boy in her arms. The baby saw the man who was responsible for nearly taking his life, but the baby smiled, as if he did nothing wrong at all.

His mother saw this and the man smiled at the baby, so the mother with a grin, nodded to him. "I forgive you. Besides, if it wasn't for my clumsiness, he wouldn't have been on that street to begin with," she confessed.

The spikey golden-haired man smiled in gratitude for her forgiveness and gave the stroller to her, the mother nodding a thank-you and put her boy in the stroller.

"Well, my work here is done," Twyla announced quietly to herself. She walked back to her friends who were amazed at what just happened.

"Whoa, Twyla," Mallory said in awe. "Did you really save that kid's life?"

"Yeah," Twyla answered, wiping the dust off her, "I'll explain on the way back to the Pond."

The girls picked up their stuff on the patio and as they walked to the Pond, Twyla explained the scene of the baby on the street.

"I barely made it in time to pick up the kid and jump out of the way," she concluded.

"Wow, you did that?" Tanya asked in amazement.

"Well, someone had to do it," Twyla replied. "I couldn't just sit there."

"We know that," Mallory said, "Still, it's great that you did that. I wish we could've seen it."

"Well, if anyone's to thank, it's God," Twyla stated. "I asked Him to help me, and He made me fast enough to safe that little boy. In fact..." she added, her eyes looking thoughtful, "It was God who helped me save another little boy on Puck World. Remember, Mallory, your dad recruited me because when we were escaping, a boy almost got left behind and was nearly taken out by a Drone until I got him."

Yes, Twyla remembered that terrifying day very clearly...

* * *

_There were screams and panic was the Ducks made their way to the rescue ship. The Drones found their secret hideout and were trying to destroy them. Thankfully, Dr. Beakin that had escape ship ready for emergencies like that and he, Suzette, Admiral McMallard, Twyla got everyone onboard._

_Suzette and Twyla were at the door, urging everyone to get inside the ship. When the last of the people got in safely, Suzette announced, "I think that's everybody."_

_"It'd better be," Twyla replied. However, it wasn't everybody, for Twyla heard a brown-haired boy yelping in fear and she turned to see him running desperately for the ship. Suddenly, a Drone popped up and saw the boy who looked in fear at the horrible robot._

_"Oh, no!" Twyla exclaimed. Without warning, she took Suzette's Puck Launcher and ran towards the Drone and boy, sending a quick prayer to God to help her save this boy's life._

_"Twyla, no, wait!" Suzette called, but Twyla didn't pay attention to her cries._

_The boy shivered as the Drone loomed over him. Twyla had an idea to stop it and made two very lucky shots at its eyes that made the robot turn in confusion since it couldn't see. With no time to waste, she grabbed the boy and ran as fast as she could for the ship._

_Suzette, Dr. Beakin, and the admiral were at the door, urging her to hurry. Finally, getting close enough, she jumped through the door that her friends shut, and skidded on the floor, keeping the boy safe in her arms._

_The admiral turned on his wrist communicator, ordering the ship's pilot to move and so it did. Twyla still panted from the adrenaline, then looked at the boy who clutched on his rescuer, shivering something terrible at what just happened._

_"It's okay, kid," she told him soothingly. "You're all right."_

_The brunette boy looked up at her, tears in his eyes, seeing her smile in reassurance, then hugged her._

_"Twyla, you were crazy to do that," Suzette told her._

_"But you were brave, I'll give you that," Dr. Beakin complimented._

_"I just did what I had to do," she replied, getting up with the boy still in her grasp. Then she heard someone calling out for someone named Roger. She turned to see a man and a woman, the man having brown hair and she guessed that they were his parents. "Excuse me," she called to them, walking towards them. "Is this Roger?"_

_"Roger!" the mother cried, his son holding his arms for his mom who happily took him in hers._

_"Son!" the father said, hugging both Roger and his wife._

_"Mom, Dad," Roger cried, happy to be with his parents. "That human lady saved me from a scary robot."_

_"She did?" his mother asked in surprise._

_"You did?" his father asked Twyla._

_"Well, yes," she answered shyly, rubbing her foot on the floor, her hands behind her back. "but don't thank me. Thank God. I askd for His help and He helped me get your son in time."_

_"Praise the Lord," Roger's father announced._

_"He is the Heavenly One," his wife agreed, both still hugging Roger._

_Twyla was very happy to see Roger back with his family safe and sound and thanked God for His help._

_"I have to say," said the admiral who made her jump in surprise when she turned to see him, "even though it was insane of you to do that, it was a good thing you did for that young man."_

_"Well, thank you, sir, for saying so," Twyla nodded, looking back at the happy family. "It's just...no one should get left behind, especially kids."_

_The admiral nodded, thinking of something quietly which made Twyla wonder what. "It would've been a sad day if even just one person remained at the old secret base," he declared. "That's why I'd like to ask if you would join the Resistance."_

_"M-Me?" Twyla stuttered in total shock. She'd always wanted to help the Ducks, but she never thought she'd be in the military. "No, sir, I'm sorry. I'm not a soldier, you wouldn't want me."_

_"Twyla, what you did do that Drone proves that you have the potential," the admiral reasoned._

_"Sir, with all due respect, but it was hardly me. It was God Who made my aim good and made me fast enough to get in here with the boy. Trust me, it had very little to do with me."_

_"Well, I'm not denying God helped you save a child's life," the admiral said, "but how do you know for sure you don't have commando skills? Twyla, the fact that you know is that we need more soldiers in the Resistance. Remember, you told me yourself we need all the help we can get."_

_He put a hand on her girl's shoulder and looked at her in the eye, softly saying, "I only ask that you try. Let me see for myself how good you are in the Resistance. Believe me, I'm a good judge on talented commandos. If you can't do it, then I'll let you go."_

_Twyla thought about it for a moment. Truth be told, it always scared her to be in the army. She knew wars were not good things at all...but the thought of that boy almost getting killed today scared her more._

_With a deep sigh, she looked at the admiral and nodded. "Okay, I'll try."_

* * *

And from that day forth, Twyla did do a good job in the Resistance and she and her friends rescued many people and taught them the Way of Jesus, so they could be saved even more and find faith for their world.

"It was good that you decided to give it a try, Twyla," Mallory said matter-o-factly, an arm around her shoulder. "Otherwise, the Resistance wouldn't have a good recruit."

"Well," Twyla replied, feeling bashful.

"And we wouldn't have another good teammate," Tanya added, an arm around her other shoulder.

Now Twyla was blushing and walked a few ways away from them. "Oh, shucks, you're making my face red," she said, touching her warm face.

"We're sorry," Mallory apologized, both Ducks grinning at her modesty.

"Don't have to apologize," Twyla replied, not looking at them so they wouldn't see her reddened face. "Just don't make a big deal about it."

"Couldn't we at least tell the boys when we get back?" Tanya insisted.

"Sure, you can tell them, if you'd like," Twyla shrugged. As long as they didn't exaggerate things, she hoped. Still, she was happy that today, God helped her once again to save another young life and that the mother and the driver forgave and forgot. No one should stay angry forever and no one deserves a sudden death.

"But you sure told that driver off," Tanya said.

"Which he deserved," Mallory added.

"Well, someone had to tell him it's not a good idea to pay attention to talking on the phone than what's going on on the road," Twyla explained simply. "So I think he's learned his lesson.'

"Sure hope so," Mallory murmured.

"And remember the thing about forgiveness that I read to you guys in the Bible last night?" Twyla asked with a finger pointing to the sky. "When the boy's mother forgave him, it's just like when Esau forgave his little twin brother Jacob who was sorry for what he did like the driver was."

She looked up to the sky, the wind blowing in the breeze, and smiled at the memory of the baby safe with his mother who forgave the driver who apologized and learned a valuable lesson in driving. "Yep," she said, her gaze still up in the blue sky with many clouds in the air, "forgiveness is a wonderful thing."

The female Ducks looked at each other and smiled. They could tell that their human teammate didn't just have courage, she had a very good heart and it was both of those things of hers that helped everyone on Puck World and them on Earth.

As Twyla kept looking at the sky with the wind blowing, Mallory came up, holding a strand of her long hair. "The only thing I'm gonna have a hard time forgiving is you having this hair," she pronounced, playfully, releasing her hair. "I mean, I never knew a human could have good-looking hair like that. Not that I think they don't deserve to have it, though."

"You remind me of what my mom and grandma would say," Twyla grinned, twirling her hair. "They'd tell me they hate my guts for having this much hair."

"I can understand that," Tanya agreed, taking a piece of Twyla's hair in her hand.

"Well, wait a minute, why is that?" Twyla asked, gently taking her hair away from her. "Your hair is about as long as mine, even though it stands up."

"Yeah, but mine doesn't have a unique shine or texture like yours," Tanya put in.

"Well, hey, at least you two still have hair," Twyla pointed out. "Would you rather be bald?"

"Well, no," Mallory answered.

"We see your point on that one," Tanya added.

"Thank you," Twyla replied, pulling her back her hair into her scrunchy. "The only reason I let this down earlier was because I like it let it down when the wind's blowing."

"Nothing wrong with that," Mallory understood. "As long as you don't do it when others are around."

"Then girls who see you will really hate your guts," Tanya declared playfully.

"I'll try to remember that," Twyla assured with a grin, "Although, Grandma says hair like this should be shown off. She'd do it if she had this hair."

"Can't say I'd disagree with her," Mallory said, making all three girls laugh.

As they walked back to the Pond, Twyla did enjoy this day. It'd been a long time since she went out to enjoy herself and it felt pretty good to be doing it again... She just hoped to Heaven that she and her teammates can give everyone on Puck World that kind of freedom to go out and be happy again.

* * *

The girls came back and found the boys in the living room, Wildwing reading on a lounge chair that was close by the door and Nosedive with his comic on the chair next to his brother and Grin and Duke playing chess on the sofa.

"Well, welcome back, ladies," Wildwing greeted.

"Thank you," Twyla nodded. "You guys had fun?"

"Well, it was just a little lonely," Duke answered from his play with Grin, "but we survived just fine on our own."

"So how was your girls' day out?" Nosedive asked curiously, his hands behind his head.

"Well, shopping was a success," Twyla pronounced, holding up her bags of shirts and jeans.

"Afterwards, we hit a café to drink and talk," Mallory added.

"And while I was helping Mallory get a stain off, Twyla saved a baby boy's life," Tanya put in, "So it was a good day."

"Well, glad to hear it..." Wildwing said, then stopped. "Whoa, wait a minute. Back up to saving a boy's life."

"Well, you see, while I was waiting for Mallory and Tanya to come out..." Twyla began to explain. She told them of how the baby was accidentally pushed on the road where an upcoming driver, who was too busy talking on his phone to pay attention, was that close to hitting him if Twyla hadn't moved in time to keep him form harm's way.

Then she explained how she reprimanded the driver a bit and had him apologize to the mother who forgave him for that day's incident since her son was all right.

"And that's what happened," Twyla finished.

"Whoa, you just ran up there, grabbed him, and then jumped out of the way?" Nosedive asked, leaning on the edge of his seat.

"Yes, but it's not that big a deal," she insisted, rubbing her arm.

"Not that big a deal?" Duke echoed. "Saving a kid's life right on the nick of time wasn't a big deal?"

"Well, it was really thanks to God that I was able to. I mean, the driver was that close to hitting us," she explained, her index finger and thumb close together, "I was only fortunate God heard my prayer and made me fast enough to get the baby off the road."

"You really think so?" Wildwing asked.

"Yes, I do," she answered simply. "Remember on Puck World, when I saved another kid's life that gave Mallory's dad to recruit me in the Resistance? I asked God to help me then, and He did. What I'm really glad for was that the driver learned his lesson about not talking on the phone while driving. I mean, he was shaken up about what nearly happened. Thankfully, the baby's mother forgave him."

"Yeah, Twyla convinced her to," Mallory added.

"Well, I'm just glad things turned out well," Wildwing pronounced.

"Yep," Twyla nodded. _And Praise the Lord for that. _

Later afterwards, Twyla sat down with everyone in the living room to read more of the Bible about Jacob's family after he put things right with his big twin brother Esau again. She read where after Jacob's beloved wife Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin, he treated her first-born Joseph as if he was the eldest of his sons and gave him a special coat that the eldest son would wear.

That made Joseph's eleven big brothers bitterly jealous of him and to make things worse, Joseph explained to them and their father his two dreams. One of when he was helping his brothers shieve grain and while his stalk stood, his brothers' stalks bowed to his and another dream that the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed to him, the sun and moon representing his parents and the stars his big brothers.

The brothers thought Joseph was implying himself as the boss of them, and even though Jacob scolded Joseph for thinking he'd be greater than his own parents, he wondered if his dreams were signs from God that He had big plans for Joseph in the future.

One day, Joseph's brothers were missing and Jacob sent Joseph to find them and far away, he did find them, only to be caught in a trap and had got pushed into a pit, his coat torn. His brothers sought to teach him a lesson. However, Reuben the eldest brother, not feeling right about this at all, had decided to smuggle Joseph back to their father, but while he was away, a caravan of traders were on their way to Egypt and Reuben's brothers had a plan to sell him to the traders so they can sell him as a slave in Egypt.

By the time Reuben got back to rescue Joseph, he was shocked to hear that his brothers had sold him for silver and they had to think of what to say to their father. So they took the boy's torn coat and smeared it with goat's blood and claimed to their heartbroken father that wild animals killed him.

However, God watched over poor Joseph while he was being dragged and pushed all the way to Egypt and had been sold to an official of the king's guard named Potiphar and the official saw how he well Joseph worked and organized things and didn't shirk or slack off his chores. That was because God helped Joseph do his work well and Joseph was happy for he was a beloved and trusted slave in Potiphar's home.

Sadly, the poor boy was in trouble again and through no fault of his own. Potiphar's wife took a liking to him and tried to bring her affections on him, but Joseph refused to betray his good master and God by taking another man's wife.

That made Potiphar's wife angry and accused Joseph of him doing her wrong, so Potiphar furiously had Joseph sent to prison, but God still kept an eye on him and helped him do well in the prison and taking care of the prisoners. Then one day, two new prisoners came and the felt miserable after having bad and confusing dreams. Joseph told them that God can explain dreams and asked them to tell him their dreams so that God could help him understand their meaning.

The steward explained how he saw three branches with grapes which he used to make a drink for the king and the baker dreamt of taking three baskets of pastries to the king and how birds came to peck at him.

God told Joseph the meaning and he translated to the steward, "In three days' time, you will be given back your old job." With bad news, he told the baker, "In three days' time, you will be sentenced to death on the king's orders." Three days came which was the king's birthday and he had the steward back to his court and sentenced the baker to be executed.

Joseph asked the steward to tell the king that he'd done no wrong and doesn't deserve to be in prison. However, as soon as he was back on his old duties to the king, Joseph went to the back of his mind, but two long years later, when the king felt miserable from bad dreams of his own, the steward remembered the kind help from Joseph and told the king that he could help him, too.

Joseph was ushered in after being cleaned up and shaved and met the king in his throne room. The king asked if he could explain dreams, but Joseph corrected that God can explain dreams. The king told Joseph that he had two dreams. One of seven fat cows coming to the river to drink and then seven skinny ones came and ate the fat ones. Then the other one was about seven full, ripe ears of grain were eaten by seven withered ears of grain.

God helped Joseph to understand and Joseph explained to the king, "Seven years will bring good crops, but then, during another seven years, a famine will use up all the first seven years of good harvest." Joseph suggested that the king should put a man he could trust to be in charge of the food supply and store the grain so that there would be enough to feed everyone during the years of famine.

The king was impressed by Joseph's wisdom and declared that he'd be that man he can trust and dubbed him his new prime minister. Joseph was given a fine chariot and servants of his own. Just like when he was a slave, God helped Joseph do his job at supervising the grain and made storage houses during the first seven years of plentiful grain. Then the dreadful famine came and everyone in or out of Egypt came for their share of grain. Joseph was happy to have been able to save lives until one day, something very unexpected happened.

Eleven men came from Canaan to buy some grain for their families and Joseph recognized them as his brothers who sold him to the traders years ago. He was shocked, indeed, but he wanted to see for himself what they were like now. When he walked up to them, they didn't recognize him since they thought Joseph was really dead and that Joseph looked like an Egyptian. Without revealing his identity, he accused them of being spies and made them explain themselves and they said that they are twelve brothers and told him that one was dead and the other who was Benjamin was so dear to his father, he was not allowed to came with his older brothers.

Joseph was angry that he was described dead and demanded that the next time they come back, they shall bring Benjamin as proof and had the guards take Simeon, one of his brothers, hostage and put in prison until then. When the rest of the brothers came back, they were shocked to find the money they bought for the grain was in one of their sacks. They were afraid that they would be accused as thieves as well as spies now. Little did they know that it was part of Joseph's plan to see what kind of men his heartless brothers were.

When Jacob's family ran out of grain, he asked his sons to go back to Egypt and get some more, but they asked for Benjamin to come with. Jacob refused at first because he was the only son of his deceased beloved wife Rachel he had left, but they convinced him that they would all die if they don't take him with and Judah, who'd been the one that came up with the idea of selling Joseph years ago, promised on his life to protect Benjamin.

Reluctantly, Jacob watched them go and Joseph saw with nearly tears in his eyes at the sight of his little brother Benjamin, but didn't show. Then he had Simeon set free and welcomed them in his home and had food prepared for them. When they sat down, they were amazed to see they sat in the order of age. They wondered how could anyone have known that.

Then, satisfied that things went well and that Benjamin was safe, they set off to Canaan with more grain, but to their dismay, a servant of Joseph's came up and demanded to know why they took his master's silver cup. They insisted that they didn't do such a thing and they told him to search their bags and kill the thief and keep the rest of them as slaves. The servant searched the bags and found in Benjamin's bag, the silver cup. They were completely shocked to see it, but it was really part of Joseph's plan to see again what his brothers were like.

The brothers were taken back to Joseph and he declared that he'd keep Benjamin alive and only keep him as a slave. Judah stepped forward and begged Joseph, whom they still believed as a governor and not their long-lost brother, that he should take him as a slave because he did not want his father to die of grief to lose another son.

Joseph was touched by their love and devotion for Benjamin and that made him see his brothers had completely changed. He ordered his servants to leave them be and told the truth of himself that he was their long-lost brother. They were surprised and amazed that the brother whom they had treated so badly was alive and a governor of Egypt.

Joseph hugged and kissed them, starting with Benjamin and told him he forgave them and told them that he had to come to Egypt to save many lives and he asked his brothers to bring their father and families to Egypt where they would settle in Goshen.

As they came towards Egypt, Jacob, helped by Benjamin, saw Joseph coming and was overjoyed to see his boy alive and well and that his family were finally together and happy.

"So, you see, guys?" Twyla asked, closing the Bible. "Joseph's brothers were wrong to hate and sell their brother, yes, but it was still part of God's plan for Joseph to come to Egypt where he would be of most help. Yes, Joseph went through a lot, but God never forgot about him and took care of him. And it was good for his brothers, too, because they realized how horrible they were to their brother and that made them love and protective of Benjamin which was what made Joseph happy that they'd changed their ways and forgive them."

After another good night's lesson, Twyla came up to the roof and let her hair loose again to flow in the breeze, relaxing in the cool night air.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps and she half-expected it to be Duke since he told her he'd come up at night, but to her surprise, it was Wildwing.

"Hey, there," she greeted with a smile, "What can I do for ya?"

"Oh, not much. Just thought I'd ask if I could join you," he replied.

"Well, sure," she said invitingly, patting a spot next to her. "Have a seat."

Wing took his spot beside her and both were silent, looking at the night sky with the stars covering the velvety darkness above.

"You know, I don't think I spend enough time up here," Wildwing thought aloud. "Otherwise, I would've known how good this view is."

"I know," Twyla agreed. "It seems to me the sky is most peaceful. You know, untouched and unconnected to the problems on the world below. And when you're in the sky and you see the world from up there, you'd almost think that those said worries didn't exist because it looks so beautiful and tranquil." She was quiet for a moment and turned to Wing. "I'm sorry if I'm speaking nonsense."

"Oh, no, you're not," Wildwing assured her, a hand on her arm. "Actually, now that you mention it, it does seem like that in a way. One look at the empty and vast sky and you feel as if the world's problems aren't even there..."

"Yes, the sky almost feels like Heaven..." Twyla said, her gaze lost in the starry world. "You know, people who trust in Jesus and follow him have a place up there. Because you know that Jesus is the bridge to God." She closed her eyes, thinking about Heaven. "It keep dreaming what it would be like to be there, a place where I can meet my lost loved ones and meet my ancestors and meet God and Jesus up there. A place where there's no worries. No more illnesses or pain or sadness or anything else bad to dwell over. Just peace in God's house."

"Huh," Wildwing responded. "Just talking about it makes a person feel like death isn't so bad."

"Well, as long as you know where you're going, it isn't," she stated, "For me and others who know they're going to a good place, are only afraid of how we die."

"Can't say I blame you for feeling that way," Wing understood. "A lot of people don't want to die, especially a painful one."

"Mm-mmm," she shook her head. She leaned back with her hands behind her, letting the breeze blow against her hair.

Wing looked at her with the hair flying in the wind and remarked, "You know, Mallory said that she dislikes you a bit for having that hair."

Twyla grinned and shrugged, "Well, I'm sorry she feels that way. Although, I think both her and Tanya's hair are nice. Myself, I've always liked hair."

"Does that mean you adore your hair the most?" he queried, holding a strand of her hair in his hand.

"Well, I do like my hair, and I'd like it if it was on someone else's head," she answered. "But there are other people's hair I like more than mine."

"I see," he understood, letting go of her hair. "I don't suppose you'd like a guy's hair," he wondered.

"Well, a guy's hair is nice," she replied, leaning her palm on one of her knees, her chin resting on the back of her hand. "Depending on the length or color. Although, even though seeing long hair on a guy looks nice on them, they may not want to keep that long hair for too long. Otherwise, people will think they're a girl."

Wildwing laughed at that. "Yeah, I don't think they'd like that kind of confusion."

Twyla smiled and looked back at the sky. "Man, today was somethin'."

"Yeah, I still can't believe you ran up on the street to save that kid," he remarked.

"Yeah, I guess it was crazy," she replied, looking at the ground bashfully.

"Well, it kinda was, but it was brave."

"Brave?" she echoed. "No, I was scared. I was scared that I would've been too late and that the both of us could've been dead, but seeing that baby reminded me of Roger whom I saved on Puck World when we were escaping. The thought of a young innocent life being lost terrified me so much. In other words, I was scared, but for their lives."

"I see," he nodded, "but you still went out there to save them."

"Yeah, but like I said, it was God that helped me save both Roger and that baby," she reminded him, her gaze still on the sky.

Wildwing looked at the starry sky, too, thinking about what Twyla went through to find this Earth, survive in the forest she stayed in, and save him and his teammates. He wondered if God was helping her those times, too.

"Twyla?"

"Yes?" she asked, looking at Wildwing whose gaze was still fixed on the sky.

"Do you think God has been helping us all this time?" he asked curiously.

"Well...yes, I believe so," she answered, thoughtfully, hugging her knees.

"But would God help those who don't even know Him?"

"Well, sure, I believe so. Why wouldn't He? To give them the chance to help others and give them the chance to live long enough so that someone can come along and teach you about Him."

"...But why did He take this long for us to learn about Him?" he queried. "Why did it take centuries for us to know about Him...?" He still couldn't understand why his people never heard of God. Why were they in the dark for so long to learn about God and his Son Jesus?

"You know, Mallory asked me last night when she came up here," she explained, "and I told her that God works in mysterious ways we can't understand... I don't think it was His intention for you to not know..."

She had to admit, she kept asking herself why the Ducks never heard about God. He wouldn't keep His existence a secret... He'd never want others to be ignorant of the fact it was He who made worlds and people...

"I don't know why you all never heard of God," she confessed sadly, "but I'm sure there's an explanation. We just don't know it yet."

Wildwing's stare was still at the sky, not exactly satisfied with her answer. Knowing his concerned thoughts, she put a reassuring hand on his knee. "Hey, at least you all know about God now. That's what's important."

The masked Duck was quiet for a moment and said quietly, "Yeah...the present is always something we should pay attention to."

Twyla nodded and patted his knee. "Exactly."

"Say?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think this Earth has heard of Jesus, too?"

"I'm sure they have..." she assured, but then thought for a moment, a hand under her chin, "Although..."

"Although, what?"

Twyla wondered if this Earth's history was the same as her Earth's history...but if that was true, what if there was a Jesus what came to his Earth as well? Another Earth that had its own Jesus Christ? And its own heroes and heroines, such as Joseph, Moses, David, Deborah, Esther, Elijah and Elisha? But it couldn't be... Why would God make another Earth with the exact same people who existed on her Earth, too...?

"Twyla?" Wildwing asked, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, uh, nothing, never mind," she replied with a wave of her hand. "It's not important." Not to anyone else yet, anyway.

"If you say so," he said, though he was still suspicious of her lost in thought, but turned his head to the sky again. "Do you suppose there's just one Heaven?" he asked quietly.

Twyla blinked and looked at the sky, too, and smiled. "Yes, I believe there is," she answered, not doubting it whatsoever. "And you guys and everyone else on Puck World who believe in Christ are gonna be there someday when God says it's your time, but I'm sure that won't be for a long time."

Wildwing looked at her and he wondered if she was sure, but seeing that "trust me" look on her face, he could tell she was completely sure.

Then they both turned their heads to the stars, thinking about the peacefulness and wonder of both the sky and the everlasting world beyond it, forgetting only a few minutes about the trials and tribulations which they knew they were going to face very soon...but at least they were comforted at the fact that there was Someone Who was going to be with them through it all and help them in every challenge they would face together.

* * *

(Sorry, guys, for taking this long. Been feelin' very lazy. *hangs head in shame* My deepest apologies. But I will try to send the next chapter sooner. God bless until then.)


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